


The Misfits

by Tattered_Petals



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Boarding School, Friendship, Gen, Murder Mystery, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 16:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 133,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1655060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tattered_Petals/pseuds/Tattered_Petals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spencer Reid expected a lot of things going into boarding school. But, what he didn't expect was a mission of self-discovery, developing friendships. Oh, and getting thrust into the middle of a mystery. Major AU!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Spencer Reid got out of his Father's car and cast a desperate glance in his direction. He stood outside of what he was nearly positive would wind up being the worst experience of his life. Boarding school. His Father had decided to send him to boarding school. Spencer shouldn't have been surprised, really. His Father never had much tolerance for him and since...

He couldn't bring himself to think of it, that thought was strictly off limits. 

"Here are the rest of your things," his Father,William Reid, told him as he handed him another suitcase. Spencer was a tiny boy, much too small for his age, and the weight of his suitcases nearly caused him to tip over. William Reid looked his son up and down. "Good," he declared with a nod of approval. 

Spencer looked at his Father, misery was the most readable expression on his face. William Reid sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. He hadn't a clue what to say to his son. "Spencer...I...it'll be alright." He tried to smile down at him. Spencer just continued to look up at him with despair. "This is a smart school for smart kids! You'll fit right in!" The same kicked puppy look. "Maybe they'll actually even put you back in your correct grade level."

"You mean they'll let me graduate today?" Spencer snipped. He should have graduated high school, but his Father was intent not to allow it. He felt Spencer would lose valuable lessons if he went into college too fast. Deep down, Spencer just thought his Father felt it would draw too much attention to them, which would have drawn attention to his Mother. 

"Don't." William Reid held up a warning finger to his son. "Don't start with that, Spencer. I allowed you to skip two grades, and I already believe it to have been a mistake." 

Spencer could have brought up the same arguments he always used. He could have argued it tooth and nail, right there, in the parking lot. He could have caused a scene. He could have smashed his things onto the ground and declared how he was not going to stay at that boarding school. ...but he didn't. Instead, he just hung his head, and nodded. 

"That's my boy." William sounded relieved and placed a gentle, hesitant hand on Spencer's shoulder. "You'll do fine, Spencer," his Father assured him. Spencer felt his eyes well up with tears.

"You must be the Reids!" A woman approached them. She had short trimmed blonde hair, polished, and poised. She was well dressed, head held high. To put it plainly, she was so prim it was terrifying. 

"Yes, Ma'am!" William quickly stuck out his hand, and the woman shook it. "You must be Erin Strauss, I believe I spoke to you on the phone!" 

"Indeed you did." Erin nodded and shook William's hand firmly. "This must be your son, Spencer." She turned to look at the boy, and seemed as though she were sizing him up. Spencer shrunk back. She then stuck out her hand to him, and his whole body froze and his eyes widened. 

"My-uh-my hands are full." It was the perfect excuse, though it didn't stop his father's face from falling. But it didn't much matter to him. If his Father truly cared, he wouldn't be sending him away. 

Erin Strauss looked at his various bags and nodded. "Indeed they are. I'll get one of your new roommates to help you with all that. You are to be sharing a room with two seniors. You will inform me or Mateo Cruz, who oversees your section, if they cause any trouble." Spencer nodded his head immediately. 

"Well." William cast another smile towards Erin. "That should be my cue to go." He then looked at his son, who had been struggling to hold all of his things. Reid looked up at his Father with sadness, once again. "Be good, Spencer." With that, he turned to leave, ithout a word of affection, without a hug...nothing. He just left him there, got in his car, and drove off. 

With immense sadness, Spencer watched the car go. He heard a deep sigh next to him, and looked up at Erin. She offered him a tight smile. "It's hard, I'm aware. But you'll enjoy it here." 

Spencer highly doubted that. 

"Ms. Strauss?" He heard the voice of some other boy sound from behind him. He turned to see a tall, serious looking boy. "You wanted to see me?" 

"Ah, Aaron." She nodded. "This," She gestured to Spencer, "Is Spencer Reid. He'll be rooming with you. He needs some help with his things." 

"Can see that." Aaron walked over and took one of the larger suitcases from Spencer. "Too bad you didn't send Morgan," he told Erin, "He could have taken all of these with one arm." 

"I don't exactly consider him a part of the welcome committee." Erin sniffed. Aaron looked at her in surprise.

"Yet you consider me part of it?" he asked in disbelief. 

Erin rolled her eyes. "Out of the two of you? I'm taking the lesser of two evils." Spencer's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. That wasn't comforting. "I'll be going about, now. I have duties to attend to." Strauss looked at Spencer once again. "Come get me if they cause trouble." With that, she left. Spencer stood still and terrified as he watched after her.

Aaron snorted. "She doesn't really know much about how to make people feel welcome." He looked at Spencer, almost sympathetically. "We're really not all bad. She just has high standards." With that, Aaron walked away with most of Spencer's things, he looked back at the boy, who he had expected to follow him, and inclined his head towards the door. Spencer's eyes widened, and he rushed to catch up.

~.~.~.~.~.

The staircase was much too high for Spencer's liking. Aaron looked at him, bemused. "They say they do it on purpose." 

Spencer just nodded his head, still too nervous to say a word. Aaron raised an eyebrow at him. Something about Aaron's eyes had frightened him. Far too serious. Too analytical. 

"What are you? A freshman?" Aaron asked him. Spencer whimpered when he saw another level of stairs. 

He registered Aaron's question and shook his head in the negative. "No. Senior," he replied. 

Aaron froze, and turned to look at him with disbelief. "There's no need to lie to me," he told him.

Spencer narrowed his eyes. "I'm not lying. I skipped two grades. I'd have skipped more but-." He stopped himself. Aaron continued to eye him analytically. 

"But what?" The boy pressed.

"Nothing," Spencer shook his head. He wasn't going to spill his guts out to a boy he barely knew on the first day of school. 

"Well," Aaron seemed to let it go, as they approached a door. "This is it." Spencer let out a breath of relief. Aaron opened the door, and Spencer walked into the room. It was nice. Probably would have been nicer if they weren't clothes and various other items tossed haphazardly around it. It almost took him a minute to notice two boys who were situated in the room. One looked to be of italian descent, and the other was mocha colored and had his earbuds in. He looked at Spencer, unimpressed.

"Spencer, this is David Rossi." Aaron gestured to the italian, who rose his hand in a half-wave. "He doesn't live in this room, but he can't seem to stay in his own. Then that's," He gestured to the other boy, "Derek Morgan." 

"Don't' feel insulted by his rudeness," David told Spencer, as he cast a glance at Derek, who glared back at him. "He's too cool to be here, if you can't tell." 

"Screw you." Derek snapped at him. David rolled his eyes and smirked, as did Aaron, who set Spencer's stuff down on the clean bed and sat on the ground next to David. Derek's eyes followed Spencer as he went to set things on his corner of the room. He cracked opened one suitcase, and a large amount of books spilled out.

"Damn." David looked at the books in surprise. "You like to read?" 

Spencer nodded. He smiled as he held up one of the books, a favorite of his Mother's. She had given it to him, for when they wouldn't be near one another. She had promised him that as long as he kept the book by his side, that she would forever be there, with him. 

"Do you talk?" Derek asked him. Spencer tore his eyes away from his book and looked at him in surprise.

"Cut him some slack, jackass." David whacked Derek's leg from his seated position in front of his bed. "He's been here for .2 seconds, and this is the first you've spoke." 

Derek glared at him and kicked him in the back. It was more of a tap, really, not intended to do any damage, but David looked pissed by it, all the same. "Don't call me a jackass, you-."

"Both of you cut it out." Aaron rolled his eyes and looked at Spencer, who still clutched the book, except now he held it tight to his chest. "Strauss already has him terrified."

"Ah, don't be threatened by Strauss, kid." David waved his hand. "Trust me, that lion can be tamed." He winked at him. Spencer just gazed at him in confusion. He obviously had no idea what David meant.

"I still call bullshit to that story." Derek rolled his eyes. "There's no way, man." 

"Dude, I'm telling you, she's totally into me. Could've expelled me a million times, but she didn't," David said proudly.

"You're a moron," Derek stated.

"You like a teacher?" Spencer gasped. It escaped him before he could stop himself. Derek looked at him, and Spencer scooted backwards in fear. 

"How old are you, anyway?" Derek asked him. "You don't even look old enough to be here."

"Skipped two grades, kid's a senior," Aaron told him. Derek looked at him in disbelief, as did David. "Said he'd have gone further."

"Bullshit," Derek snorted. "You got two years ahead in boarding school, man. Don't try to oversell it." 

Spencer narrowed his eyes. If there was one thing in the entire world that would get Spencer Reid mad, it was a shot at his intelligence. "I have an eidetic memory, an IQ of 187 and can read 20,000 words per-minute," he snapped at him. "I don't need to sell anything." He instantly regretted his words. The boy was much more than simply twice his size, and he didn't seem to have a sunny disposition. 

All of the three boys looked at him in shock. "What the hell," Derek was the first to speak, "Is an eidetic memory." 

Spencer rolled his eyes, of course they wouldn't know what it was. He'd go the simple route of explaining, he decided. "It's almost like a photographic memory," He explained. "Almost. The definition of eidetic is 'relating to or denoting mental images having unusual vividness and detail, as if actually visible.'." He explained. 

"So what?" David asked him. "You remember everything you see?" 

Spencer shrugged. "Just about." 

"That sucks," Derek said. Aaron and David looked at him disbelief. 'Dude!' David cried out. "What?! Who the hell wants to remember all the shit they see?! He'll never forget this place for the rest of his life." 

"It's alright," Spencer replied. It was weird. No one had ever said it like it was a bad thing before. "It means I also remember every book I've ever read," he said cheerfully.

"Then why the hell did you bring so many?" David asked. His eyes traveled to the overflowing bag of books. 

Spencer just shrugged his shoulders, not intent on answering the questions. He hated meeting people. He shouldn't have said a word about his intelligence, but it would be a lie to say that he hadn't been irritated by people who didn't believe him. His Father had held him back from advancing in school, so he was forced to be looked at as less than who he was. He was too far advanced for his classes, and they bored him to tears. 

"Hey, name's Spencer, right?" David asked him. Spencer looked back at them and nodded. "Got a last name?"

"Reid," Spencer answered. David chuckled, and Spencer looked at him curiously. 

"Reid likes to read," David stated. Derek and Aaron groaned. 

"You suck, man," Derek complained and whacked David, who had been laughing, on the back of his head. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Thank Christ for the school being co-ed." Derek sighed as he loosened his tie. They were on their way to the start-of-the year party. "Can you imagine how much it would suck if it were guys only?"

"Yeah, then Aaron couldn't make eyes at his girl from across the room," David teased. Aaron glared at him. Spencer just merely trailed behind, listening in to the conversation. He learned it was always better to not interact.

"Please, says the guy who is making eyes at Strauss," Derek replied in disgust. His nose was wrinkled as he looked at David. "You're just nasty, man."

"Oh? I'm nasty? You've been with most of the entire female population at this school," David replied. Spencer raised his eyebrows. He wasn't entirely surprised. Derek did strike him as...well...the type. 

"At least the girls I've screwed haven't been nearing menopause," Derek shot back at him. 

"Ha, just another month you'd have to wait," David said with a sly grin. Aaron looked back at Spencer, and rolled his eyes as he inclined his head towards the two guys. Spencer smiled back at him. 

"Why wait?" Derek split into a cheshire cat type grin. "Doesn't bother me." 

"UGH!" David groaned and covered his mouth. "You're disgusting!" 

Spencer furrowed his brow, but then when he realized what they had been referring to his eyes had widened and he let out a surprised gasp. All three boys stopped and looked back at him. Spencer flushed bright red and rubbed his arm shyly. 

"Good job, asshole. You just scarred the poor kid for life." David smacked Derek in the arm. 

"You're the one talking about trying to seduce Strauss!" Derek defended himself, and whacked David back. "Besides, the kid's like, what? Turning sixteen? Not like this stuff is new. Kid has a Mom." Spencer flinched at that, and Derek must have caught it out of the corner of his eye, because he turned to look at Spencer. His eyes widened, and he actually looked apologetic. "Oh" is all he managed to get out.

"God, dude, look what you did! You suck!" David also looked sympathetic, but he was focusing a glare on Derek. Spencer was pretty sure what idea they had, and he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Come on, Spencer," Aaron walked a few paces behind to grab the boy's arm. He gently pulled him ahead, so they boy walked beside him. "Just ignore them. Party will be fun." 

Spencer kept his eyes trained on the ground. He didn't like parties. He was never invited to one. He hadn't a clue what that party would even be like. "I've never even been to a school dance," he told Aaron. The older boy looked down at him and smirked. 

"Just don't drink the punch." David reached into his pocket and subtly pulled out a flask. He raised an eyebrow. "Or chug it. Depends on what you like." He winked at him. 

"How do you even sneak that stuff into here?" Derek asked David in astonishment. 

David grinned at him and winked. "I have connections," he said simply. 

"Yeah, man, I heard about your supposed 'connections,' but I highly doubt they're sneaking booze into your boarding school," Derek replied. Spencer frowned, he didn't know what Derek meant by David's "connections." 

Aaron noted Spencer's confused expression and smiled. "Don't pay any attention to them, Spencer. Don't try to understand it, either. You'll exhaust yourself."

"Oh, don't try to act so prissy, Aaron." David rolled his eyes. "You used to be fun." 

"Yeah." Aaron nodded his head. "Then I grew up." 

"No," David disagreed. "Then you met a nice little good girl and decided to earn your scouts badge." Derek snorted. 

"Hey," Derek chuckled, he eyed Spencer up and down, and Spencer shrunk away from him. "Wait 'till Penelope gets a load of the kid." 

"Oh God," both of the other two boys groaned. "Rest in peace, kid," David told him.

Spencer wondered what on earth his Father had gotten him into. 

~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had been forced to recite most of an episode of Doctor Who for Penelope Garcia. The bubbly blonde had seemed excited to meet him, and had been even more excited when she heard of his "talents" and the fact that he was a fan of the Doctor. When he'd told her he'd actually gotten his hands on a signed script from the show, and could recite the entire thing, she had forced him to prove it. Randomly the blonde had cut him off with a squeal and a huge hug. 

"I love him!" she declared. "He stays!" 

Derek chuckled and threw back another glass of punch. He had thrown his arm around Penelope, and was watching as some kids got much more wasted than they should, and as the teachers struggled to find out the cause. 

"Morons," Emily Prentiss snorted as she watched the scene unfold. "Seriously. Kids randomly getting drunk and the first thing you suspect isn't the punch?" 

"Strauss is tied up," David pointed out. "She won't be able to sniff it out for at least another thirty minutes."

"That is unless Gideon gets a whiff of it." Emily inclined her head, and they all turned to see Jason Gideon approaching the party. It was all happening outside, with tables set up. The weather was still nice enough for it. "This isn't gonna be pretty." 

"David, you might wanna hide the evidence," Derek hissed at him. "He's gonna know it was you." 

David waved his hand dismissively. He then burst into a fit of laughter when one of the girls tripped over a walk and fell flat on her face. Her friends had rushed forward to try to help her get back onto her feet. "Ah let him." 

"Seriously," Penelope whispered to him in concern. She had one arm still thrown around Spencer, who uncomfortably watched the scene unfold. "Get rid of it. Your parents are going to be really mad if you get kicked out." 

"What are they gonna do? Send me to military school?" David snorted. He then, in a move that made everyone who he sat around either gasp or turn their head away, he took the flask out of his pocket and took a drink. "I wanna join the military anyway. No skin off my back." 

"Dude, the military would be screwed if you joined," Derek told him. He had then looked amused, which caused Penelope to glare at him.

"Screw you, man. Military would be lucky to have me." He took another quick drink before he hid the flask back in his pocket. He looked towards the rest of them and groaned at their expressions. "What do you guys want me to do? Bury it?" 

"Nearly nine million youths, ages 12 to 20, in this country report they have had alcohol in the past thirty days." Spencer informed David, who didn't seem at all impressed by the facts. "71% of kids drink because they're at a party." 

"Yeah," David gestured to the scene around him and gave Spencer a look. "No shit, Sherlock." 

"Hey!" Penelope shouted. "No need to be rude!" 

"Oh great," Emily groaned and threw her head back. "Penelope's found herself a puppy." 

"68% stop drinking because they have a run-in with the law," Spencer told him softly. David glared at him.

"So what? Show up on day one and you start lecturing me on my drinking?" He glared at Spencer, who shrunk away. He wished he hadn't opened his mouth. He always did, and it always got him in trouble. 

"I-I wasn't try to-." He was cut off when he noticed David had once again removed the flask from his pocket, but this time he shoved it in Spencer's direction.

"Relax and take a drink," he ordered him. Spencer's eyes widened. Penelope gasped and Emily just groaned. 

"Cut the shit, man." Derek pushed the hand with the flask in it down. "You're drunk." 

"He needs to chill out," David told them. He kept his eyes trained on Spencer, who had begun to scoot away. He had hoped to, perhaps, escape the party altogether. 

"What's happening?" Aaron asked as he walked over. He looked at the tense scene with his analytical eyes and a raised brow. 

"David's trying to get the kid drunk," Derek told him. David glared at him, and Spencer continued slowly trying to escape. 

"He's freaking lecturing me, Hotch," he spat out. He was obviously more drunk than he had planned to be. His moves were sluggish and his words had become slurred. "'Bout what happens to teenage drinkers and all that shit." 

Aaron turned to look at Spencer, who looked properly terrified. Aaron actually smirked a bit at him. "Valiant effort," he informed the younger student, "But ultimately pointless." He took a seat next to the others. 

"The hell you doing back over here?" Derek asked. His face then split into a smirk. "You strike out?" 

Aaron glared at him, but ignored him. Derek laughed wildly. "Man, you totally struck out!" Aaron continued to ignore him. 

"Oh," Penelope said softly. She placed a manicured hand on Aaron's shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry, sweetie. She's just more dedicated to school. You'll get her," she assured him.

"Well." Emily stood up. "This has been fun, but I'm going to sneak off into the woods for a smoke," she told them. 

"Oh no you don't!" Penelope grabbed the back of Emily's skirt and attempted to tug her back into her place. "You got busted last time and Strauss nearly sent you home." 

The discussion, or really argument, between Emily and Penelope continued, but Spencer had been more focused on Aaron, who was intently focused on a pretty blonde. She was talking with her friends and drinking a bottle of water. She occasionally looked over to him, as well, which made him instantly look away. It was odd, Aaron hadn't really struck Spencer as the shy type. He seemed assertive enough. 

Soon, a shadow was cast over the group, and they all looked up to be met with what looked to Spencer to be the man they had referred to as "Gideon." He was tall, his hair gray and thinned, and he didn't look amused. He crossed his arms and stared down David, who just smiled back up at him.

"Hiya, Gideon," he greeted pleasantly. His smile was sickeningly sweet, but there was nothing innocent about it. "Something I can do for you?" 

"You can hand over your alcohol now, and therefore not have me report it, so that you can remain in school...or I can take you to Strauss and we can have a discussion with your parent," Jason informed him. His arms were still crossed over his chest, and his eyes were intent and serious. Spencer gulped and looked away. If he thought Aaron had an intense look to him, he looked like a puppy compared to Jason. 

"You asking for an admission of guilt?" David asked him. He still was grinning up at Jason, who was still not amused. "I think I have the right to an attorney." 

"You have five seconds before I take you to the office," Jason informed him. Penelope nudged David's shoulder, hard. 

"One," Jason started slowly. David continued just to stare up at him, smirking. 

"David," Aaron hissed at him. "Just hand it over." 

"My attorney has spoken." David pulled the flask out of his pocket and handed it over to Jason, who had unfolded his arms to accept it. "But, this is not an admission of guilt. It was planted on me. I was framed. I knew not what I was doing." 

"Yeah, right." Jason rolled his eyes. He reached out his other hand that didn't have the liquor in it, and tugged David to his feet. "You're spending the rest of the party in your room," he informed the boy, who looked at him in shock.

"What?! You said you'd let it slide!" David cried out in shock. 

"I said I wouldn't contact your parents," Jason corrected him. "Never promised anything else." he reminded him. David glared at him, and was about to say something else, but next thing they knew there was a scream of horror. 

Everyone turned to look at the cause of the scream, and gasped at what they saw. One of the girls was on the ground, her face was blue, she was trying to gasp for air, and her whole body was convulsing. 

"No," David whispered quietly. Jason released him and rushed over. "Oh, God, no." David sunk down to the grass and put his head in his hands. "I didn't. I didn't."

"SOMEONE CALL 911! NOBODY TOUCH HER!" Jason called out. The teachers already had their phones out. "How much punch did she drink?!" Jason asked the girl who was next to her friend, who was still convulsing on the ground. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She looked horribly shaken.

"She didn't drink any! It was spiked! She only had bottled water!" The blonde responded. David looked up from behind his hands and breathed out a sigh of relief. It wasn't his fault.

"OKAY! EVERYBODY BACK UP! NOBODY TOUCH THE GIRL!" Jason screamed and everyone took a few steps back, except the blonde, who was still crouched over her ailing friend, whose movements were growing fewer...until, she finally just lay there, motionless. 

"Oh my god," Penelope gasped out in horror. Tears ran down her face, and the little makeup she wore ran with them. She covered her pale lips with her hand and gazed in horror. "She's dead." 

There was utter silence, save for the sound of sobbing, as everyone gazed at the body of the dead girl. Her hair was a dark brown, her eyes empty, her lips parted open - a horrible picture to be forever painted in their memories. 

Spencer had decided that day that Derek had been right. It really did suck to have an eidetic memory.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery grows more serious, and friendships begin to take form.

"They say it was of natural causes." A day later David, Penelope, and Emily were all seated in Derek, Aaron, and Spencer's room. Emily had spoken the words. "I...I knew Kathryne. Not well, but I knew of her. She wasn't sick." 

Nobody replied, everyone just stayed silent. "You girls really shouldn't be here," Aaron told them. "Anyone catches you and-."

"Please," Derek rolled his eyes. "They could catch us doing cocaine and it wouldn't matter so long as our parents paid them enough." He looked at the wall, not making eye contact with anyone. He'd been weird since the death. They all had. 

"Well that's a fact," Emily agreed with him. "Why else would they call this a natural death? To save the reputation of the school." She looked sadly at the ground. "No matter who it hurts."

"What are you trying to say?" Penelope asked her in horror. Her eyes were wide behind the rims of her glasses. She hadn't wiped the shocked expression off her face since the incident. "That she was...that she was murdered?" 

David shook his head. "There's no way." 

Emily gave him a look. "Please," she replied in disbelief. "That girl didn't just drop." 

"Emily," Aaron shook his head. "Just don't." 

"So what?" she asked them all. "You all just buy it?" they all looked away, ignoring her like she hadn't said a word. That was, until one of them didn't.

"I don't buy it," Spencer said quietly. They all turned to look at him in surprise. Spencer was seated on his bed, a book clutched to his chest - the book that meant the world to him, given to him by his Mother. He'd received strange looks from both Derek and Aaron when he hugged it to his chest when he slept the night prior, but neither had bothered him. "I don't think she died naturally." 

"Why would you say something like that?" Penelope asked him in horror. Her eyes wet and her body posture showed all the signs of grief. 

"Because he's smart," Emily responded to her and then turned to look back at Spencer. "Go on, Spencer. Why do you think it wasn't natural?" 

"Because." He took in a deep breath. "I think she was poisoned." 

All eyes were on him. The only eyes that didn't stare at him like he was nuts were Emily's. 

"She was drinking out of bottled water..." Derek pointed out to him. 

"Doesn't matter," Spencer replied. "She was one of the girls who ran to help the girl that fell, wasn't she? Like I said, I have an eidetic memory, I remember everything I've seen. I saw her put down her bottle and run to her friend. Later we saw her drinking the water again. Someone could have easily poisoned it in that time," he reasoned with them. Emily nodded her head along with him, while the rest of them continued to stare at him like he'd lost his mind. 

"Listen, Sherlock Holmes," David was the first to reply to him. Derek snorted and shook his head. "No one was poisoned. They would have found it out."

"Not if they wanted to hide it well enough," Spencer pointed out. "They could have insisted on only doing a basic toxicology test. They should do a more extensive one, but let's be honest, people don't alway do what they're supposed to," Spencer sighed. "Especially when there's money involved." 

"This sounds a bit too conspiracy theory for me." David shook his head. Derek nodded in agreement. Aaron just looked like he was in deep consideration. 

"Why?" Spencer inquired. He then laughed, it was humorless, and empty. "In the day I've been here I've already caught three people doing drugs, seen you..." he gestured to David, "sneak alcohol in, and you..." He gestured to Emily, "sneak cigarettes in." 

"Yeah." Derek rolled his eyes and sat up a bit straighter. "Listen here, kid. Those things are a bit easier to sneak in than poison." 

"Is it?" Spencer asked. "It's weird, we're all under 24/7 observation, yet no one is actually paying any attention to anything we do. If it was that easy for you to sneak alcohol in a punch bowl, and it took that long for the teachers to notice, how easy do you think it would be for somebody to poison Kathryne's drink?" Everyone paused for a moment. The room was dead silence. The horror of the possibility weighed heavily on all of them, and no one except Emily and Spencer were really ready to face the possibility. Then again, even those two were scared. 

"Look," Aaron sighed. He rubbed a hand over his brow. "I get it. This is getting into all of our heads, okay? But...there's nothing we could do about it. We can't...worry about things that are beyond our control." He looked around the room, and then bowed his head. "If you're all really freaked, I can try to talk to Strauss."

"Man, don't," David told him immediately. "You go to Strauss saying you think the girl was poisoned, guess who the first person they're going to suspect of poisoning is gonna be?" David asked him. The room once again was plunged into silence. 

"So what?" Penelope asked them, her voice still tearful, her eyes fearful. "We just...go on?"

"We stick together," Aaron told them. "Buddy system, okay? It may have been natural, or accidental, but there's no harm in playing it safe. Two together at all times, if anyone notices something weird we tell the other, got it?" They all nodded, except Spencer, who wasn't sure if he was included. He hadn't known them for long. "Spencer, that means you, too," Aaron told him. Spencer looked at him in surprise as all eyes turned to him. He hesitantly nodded his head, still stunned he was included. 

"No man gets left behind," David said with a small smile. "Kind of like the army." 

"Huh. This does almost feel like we're going to war," Emily mused. 

"That's because we all feel like we're fighting for our lives," Derek observed. He picked at the comforter that was crumpled up in a ball at the foot of his bed. His ear phones were forgotten, and lay on his left side. He looked very distracted. 

"We're all going to be okay, right?" Penelope asked anxiously. Her eyes looked around the room searchingly. "Even if it was...even it was a murder...we'll still be okay, right?" 

"It probably wasn't," Aaron told her soothingly. "We're just going to play it safe. If we play it safe, we'll be fine. Just, don't leave any drinks out in the open, got it?" 

"Yeah, uh, Aaron." Emily looked at him, bemused. "I've been a female my whole life. Believe me when I say, that's not the first time I've heard that golden rule." Penelope laughed and nodded in agreement. 

"Okay then," David took in a deep breath. "No man gets left behind. Ladies and gentlemen, we've been drafted." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

During lunch, Spencer sat with David, Emily, Aaron, Derek, and Penelope. He noticed that their eyes seemed to scan the entire room...well, most of them. Penelope seemed to focus more on making sure the right amount of sugar was in her lemonade.

"I swear," she told them as Spencer sat down next to Aaron, "they cheat you out of sugar. They don't allow us to drink caffeine, yet they won't give us a suitable amount of sugar, either." She complained as she dumped a sugar packet in.

"Don't get him started on the caffeine." David rolled his eyes and gestured to Spencer, who, despite their talk that morning, was bleary eyed and sleepy. "He's apparently an addict." 

"The definition of being addicted is to be physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects," Spencer explained to all of them as he poked at his pasta alfredo. Unimpressed. "So yes, I'm addicted."

Everyone had snorted in amusement. "So, Spencer," Emily began. She poked at her own dish like it would burst into flames at any given moment. "Why'd your parents decide to lock you up in here?"

Spencer looked at her in surprise. He really hadn't expected to be asked that question. He assumed that people would just assume that his parents had decided to send him to a boarding school so he could get a good education and be well taken care of. "Uh...good education," he replied, but it sounded false, even to his own ears.

Emily gave Spencer a look, and everyone at the table either snorted or shook their head in disbelief. "Right,"she replied. "I totally believe that." 

"Are you from around here?" Penelope asked him. Spencer shrunk down into his seat. He hated to be asked questions. "Or did your parents just pick it?"

"It's pretty far from where I live, actually," he replied honestly. He shoveled a piece of pasta into his mouth, and smiled slightly at the taste. At least the boarding school provided good food. Although, he had learned that earlier with the pancakes. "My Dad did some research on the best boarding schools, and he picked this one. I'm originally from Las Vegas," he informed them. He looked up from his lunch to see their looks of utter disbelief. "What?" he asked insecurely. 

"You're from sin city?" Derek asked. He looked Spencer up and down. "Are you messing with us?" 

Spencer frowned, insulted by the accusation. "No! I'm seriously from Vegas! It's where I was born!" 

"Ah." David nodded his head. He grinned a little bit. "That must be...fun." 

"Oh, please." Emily whacked him on the arm. He winced and gripped it and glared at the raven haired girl. "Believe it or not, there aren't strippers lining the streets of Vegas." 

"Well, way to ruin a guy's fantasy, Emily," David said to her. She rolled her eyes and continued to prod her food. "What's next? You gonna spread the word on Santa?" 

"If you're honestly comparing your belief in strippers lining the streets of vegas to the innocent imagination kids posses of Santa, then you are much more sick than I ever gave you credit for," Emily said dryly. David glared at her, and the rest of the table cracked up. They were promptly glared at by just about everyone else. They all sobered immediately, as the memory of the day prior had come back in full detail. 

Almost as if on cue, the blonde girl that had been crouched in front of her ailing friend walked into the cafeteria. The whole room went into dead silence as she walked through it, accompanied by another blonde. The other blonde didn't look even half as torn up.

"That's Jennifer Jareau," Penelope leaned forward and whispered to him. "She was Kathryne's best friend." She looked at Jennifer, bit her lip, and then stuck her hand out to touch the girl's shoulder as she went to walk past. The girl immediately halted, and Jennifer's friend looked at Penelope in annoyance. 

"Hey, sweetie," Penelope said gently. Jennifer just continued to stare at her with red-rimmed eyes. "Would you like to sit with us? We have room." 

Jennifer looked at the table, her eyes ran over the faces of everyone seated there. "This is Spencer," Penelope explained and gestured to the boy, who gave Jennifer a tiny little wave. "He's really smart and stuff." 

Jennifer grinned at that and waved back at him. "Nice to meet you, Spencer," she croaked. Her voice sounded cracked, like her throat had been rubbed raw. 

"Hi," Spencer greeted softly, shyly. He was unsure of what to say to her, as his comforting skills had never been the greatest. 

"Well, as cute as this all is," the other blonde cut in and fixed them all with a tight smile, "Jennifer and I should probably have lunch with Kathryn's other friends. If you all don't mind," she said cruelly. She gripped Jennifer's arm tightly, and the two of them walked away. The group wasn't even spared another glance.

"Should have known," David huffed out. He shook his head in what appeared to be disappointment as he went back to eating his food. 

"Known what?" Spencer asked in confusion. It was odd to enter a whole new environment. It made you feel like you had walked into a whole other world. 

"That Jennifer Jareau wouldn't sit with us," Emily replied. She cast a glance to Jennifer, who was surrounded by her friends. They all were teary eyed, but Jennifer seemed the most distraught. "We all used to be friends when she first came here...but things change." She shrugged. 

"We're all still friends," Penelope argued. Emily had given her a 'yeah right' look. Penelope continued, slightly deflated, "She just sits over there with popular people...and we sit here." 

"You mean she sits at the popular table," Emily took over. Penelope glanced at her warily. "Meanwhile, we sit at the table of misfits."

"Hey." Penelope pouted. She let her fork drop to her plate. "We're not that bad. I mean, Derek plays football." She gestured to Derek. Spencer wasn't surprised by that. "David plays soccer, and Aaron-." She paused as she bit her lip and looked at Aaron. "Well, he's Aaron." David and Derek laughed, while Aaron just shook his head, though obviously amused. "Oh! Now we have Spencer!" Penelope said with excitement. "Spencer's a genius!" 

"Yeah." Emily nodded her head slowly. "Like I said...misfits." Penelope just glared at her and went to take a sip of her lemonade, but froze before she completed the task.

"Were...um...were you guys watching my drink while I spoke?" Everyone looked around the table at each other, except Spencer, who spoke up. "Yes. I watched it out of the corner of my eye the entire time you spoke to Jennifer," he informed her with a small smile. Penelope blew a kiss at him.

"My knight in shining armor," she cooed as she took a sip of her beverage. Derek looked at her and put a hand to his chest in mock hurt. 

"I thought I was your knight, babygirl." He pouted. David rolled his eyes, and flung a small piece of the bread, from the sandwich he had chosen, at Derek. Derek caught it and ate it. 

"Oh, my love." Penelope put her hand to her heart. "You are more than just my dearest knight, you are my beautiful, sexy, love slave." She sent him an air kiss, and he pretended to catch it in mid-air. Spencer looked between the two of them in confusion. 

"You'll get used to this," Emily promised him. "It happens a lot." Spencer just nodded his head shyly, still confused by it all. 

Aaron eyes were darting around the room. He looked as though he was closely eyeing Jennifer's table. His eyes were narrowed, the analytical look in them had come back ten-fold, as he scanned the faces of everyone at the table. His eyes then shifted across the room to look at the teacher's table, his eyebrows raised in surprise. 

"Oh for the love of God," David groaned. Everyone turned to look at him, except Aaron who still had his eys focused on the teachers' table. "You have that look on your face..."

Aaron blinked in surprise and then his eyes finally shifted back to his current company, the focus landed on David. "What look?" 

"That suspicious look. It's the same look you got our first year here when you thought our geometry teacher was drinking during class." David recalled. Derek snorted at the memory. 

"Yeah, and Strauss ended up...giving him a very strict talk about that," Aaron replied. He didn't look at all happy with the memory, though Spencer supposed it was because of the lack of justice. 

"Eh whatever, Mr. Lawyer, just get on with it, already," David urged him. 

"It's just...weird," Aaron sighed. He looked over at the teacher's table again. They all let their eyes drift over. "Just...look at Strauss," he told them. 

David shrugged. "What about her?"

"You ever seen Strauss look troubled?" Aaron asked him. Suddenly they all took it in. Erin's food was cut up, but not a single bite was taken from it. Her drink was left untouched, as well. Her hair was a mess, and not at all in its usual perfect and prim condition. Not only that, but the buttons in her shirt were all wrong. 

"So what? Someone just died, and we're all a bit messed up." Derek shrugged, and returned back to his food. 

"Yeah, but it's not that." Aaron continued to stare at her. "She doesn't look...sad. She looks stressed. It makes me think that..." He stopped himself and bit his lip, deep in thought.

"Makes you think what?" Penelope pressed. 

"It makes me think that maybe Emily and Spencer were right." Everyone at the table stopped their movement. Derek stopped with his fork midway to his mouth. "I think Strauss is hiding something." 

There was silence, before David shook his head. "You got that from what? The fact that she looks stressed?" He looked Aaron right in his eyes. "That's stupid, Aaron. Someone died in the middle of a party, parents probably want to pull their kids out of school to get them trauma counseling." 

"Yeah, and then strauss would get a therapist to evaluate all of us and the parents would back off," Aaron reasoned. "She knows how these things work. It has to be something much worse to worry Strauss." 

"He's right," Emily agreed. She leaned into the table, and everyone followed suit. They had to keep their voices low, so no one could overhear them. "Strauss has to cover up everything that happens here. I don't think her covering a murder would be a stretch." 

"Yes it is!" David argued. His voice had risen a bit, which had made them all wince. He promptly lowered it. "It's one thing to let some kids do crack, it's another to cover up the murder of a student." 

"She might not know for sure," Aaron said. "But she could be suspecting." 

"So what?" David inquired. "You're now on team Sherlock?" 

"There are no teams, dumbass." Emily rolled her eyes. She ran a hand through her long, straight raven hair. "This isn't a soccer game." 

"Yeah, and it's also not a game of Clue," David snapped back at her. 

"You said yourself that we've been drafted!" Emily argued.

"That was a joke!" 

"Both of you cut it out," Aaron ordered. In the short period of time Spencer had been at the school, he'd noticed Aaron seemed to take a leadership position over the group. It was for the best, he assumed. They were an odd mix. "This is important."

"How?" David asked them. He wiped a hand over his whole face and groaned in annoyance. "Look, guys, we're not kids pretending to be the Hardy Boys. If you really think something is wrong, then you can go to the police and become suspect #1, but this is all pointless," he explained. 

"David's got a point," Derek agreed. "I'm the first to point out an injustice, man. But just because this school is boring as all hell doesn't mean we create our own detective story." 

Spencer just listened into the conversation, not quite sure what to say. At that moment he wanted to be back at home, in bed with a good book. A memory he would have preferred over that would have been when he used to crawl into his Mother's bed when he was younger. She and her Father never shared a bed, so she'd always let him sneak in if he had a nightmare. She'd put her arm around him, tuck him in tight, and then give him a choice of which story he would like for her to read him. He'd pick one, and fall asleep to the sound of his Mother's voice. No matter how bad she ever got, she never stopped reading to him. Her voice had been the only thing in the world to calm him after a bad dream. It was odd, she had lost touch with most of reality, but she'd been able to bring him back to his own. 

He hadn't been aware of the world around him enough to realize his eyes had filled up with tears, and that his breathing had become ragged. 

"Oh! Spencer!" Penelope, of course, had been the one to bring attention to his condition. "Sweetie, it's okay! Don't cry!" She reached a hand across the table to gently place it on his shoulder. Her eyes had lost her former panic, and now were flooded with empathy. 

"I-I need to go. Can I go? I need to go." He pushed himself to his feet, and quickly left the area. He had a little while longer until 12:45pm. He could hide out in his room until then. No one had bothered to stop him. He hadn't wanted to break down in front of anyone, and wanted to leave with what little composure he had left. He was upset, but for a different reason than Penelope and the others had probably assumed. 

How pathetic was he? A terrible thing happened in front of him, and the only thing in the world he felt could possibly make it better was his Mother. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Hey." It was their "free-time," the time you got to just hang around with friends. Spencer was up in their room, on his bed, scribbling in his journal. His Mother had once told him she felt journaling helped you retain your sanity. He looked up to see Derek. He was sweat covered. Spencer raised an eyebrow at him. "Football," He explained. 

"Ah." Spencer nodded. He closed his journal as Derek approached him, not wanting the other man to see what he had been writing. "I see." 

Derek sat on his bed and Spencer winced, he was sweaty and smelly. "Listen up, kid," Derek begun. Spencer's whole body stiffened, unsure of what was coming. "I know this place seems like it sucks, and that it seems like it's boring. But it really isn't all that bad." Spencer raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Derek chuckled. Spencer was a bit surprised, he hadn't known Derek for long...but he still hadn't expected the boy to try to show any type of kindness towards him. 

"Look, kid." Spencer frowned, he didn't like being called a "kid". "Like I said, I know this place seems boring, and that you're dying for something interesting to happen. Hell, first day here I heard a kid make up a theory about how one of the teachers is a vampire. But, freaking yourself out isn't going to speed the process up any."

Spencer looked away from him. "Emily and Aaron see it." He pointed out. 

Derek sighed. "I've seen this type of thing before," Derek informed him. "Something bad happens, and your brain starts to work up all the possible ways it could get worse. But there's no reason to get scared kid. I've been going here for years, and we've all been perfectly safe." 

"So you think the death was natural?" Spencer inquired.

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "I know that it's not worth getting scared over," He told him. Spencer looked at him in a mix of shock and horror. "I'm not saying a potential serial killer isn't a big deal! What I'm saying is, right now this is all the theory of a bunch of bored boarding school kids. What Aaron said earlier, before lunch, was all true. We stick together, we avoid any situations that could lead to disaster, we keep calm and just...go on." 

Spencer eyed him. "Why are you talking to me about this?" He asked him. 

Derek cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?" 

"I just don't get why you came to me directly, instead of telling all of us this," Spencer replied. He eyed Derek much like Aaron had eyed Erin Strauss. Derek didn't look too bothered by it, though. 

"Because I know the look I saw in your face at lunch," Derek replied simply. Spencer's eyes widened. "I know it very well. I think you have enough on your plate, and that you've seen enough horrors recently, and that adding this on will just make it worse." With that, Derek stood up. Spencer continued to look at him, thunderstruck. 

Derek smirked down at the boy. "I'm going to hit the showers," He told him. "But don't worry about all this, kid. We've got your back." With that, he walked off. 

Spencer sat there in awe for a few more moments. 

'Huh,' He thought to himself. 'I was just told I'd be protected by a football player." He shook his head. 'This is going to be interesting.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer uncovers more secrets, and the mystery seems to grow more deadly.

A week had passed by, and Spencer found out that when the group made a decision, they took it very seriously. None of them were ever left alone. It seemed as though every time Spencer exited a class, one of the others was right there waiting for him. They watched each others drinks, food, and hung out with each other. It was like nothing Spencer had ever experienced in his entire life. Then again, he'd never had friends. 

David amused him, even though he didn't fully understand him. The boy was funny, and one time when they were alone he told Spencer about his passion for the military, particularly the Marines. He seemed to know a lot about it, and seemed to enjoy the fact that Spencer had enough encyclopedic knowledge to keep up with the conversation. Spencer had been surprised when the boy admitted that he knew there was nothing between him and Erin Strauss, but that he liked to pull Derek's chain. He told Spencer that he had faith Spencer wouldn't tell anyone. Spencer learned in just a week that David was good at reading people, even though it seemed as though it was Aaron's thing. David was smart, but he just kept it under wraps. 

Aaron was very serious for his age. Spencer almost had a hard time believing the things the others had told him about, mostly to tease Aaron, about Aaron's "wild" days. Something he also found he appreciated about Aaron was the fact that the boy made a good roommate. He kept his side of the room tidy, and never really bothered Spencer as he read. Spencer had also found out Aaron had a protective concern about him. One night he had awoken the boy after he'd experienced a nightmare, and Aaron was particularly kind to him the very next day. Something else he'd discovered? The girl that Aaron was head over heels for was named Haley. Derek and David often teased him about it, and Aaron consistently ignored them. He was very bright, and had hopes to become a lawyer, which Spencer discovered what Aaron's Dad was. All he'd found out about Aaron's home life was that the boy had a brother, and the profession of his Father was a lawyer. He was quiet about anything else, which was fine by Spencer, he'd only know the boy a week. 

Penelope was one of the most eccentric people he'd ever known. But that wasn't all she was, she was a very caring person, and fiercely protective of those she loved. Something that had taken him by surprise, was that he discovered that Penelope Garcia was one of the most brilliant people he'd ever met. She was inconceivable when it came to technology. She told him she could hack into anywhere in the schools database, and that she had never been caught doing so. She had also told him she could hack into anything, but he said he didn't want to see her do so. He went on to say all the ways they could go to jail for it, but she merely laughed him off. She was brilliant, passionate, and a little bit insane. 

Emily had multiple layers to her, which made her incredibly interesting. He was pretty sure even if had dedicated the rest of his life to uncovering all of her layers, he still would never succeed at the task. Her Mother was an Ambassador, and Emily herself possessed extreme intellect. Spencer learned that she spoke various languages, something which had intrigued him. Emily brushed it off like it wasn't that big of a deal, as she did when Spencer learned her Mother was an Ambassador. She smoked, and was incredibly sarcastic, but also extremely protective. But the most highly respected of all her traits? That she was a worthy chess opponent. Something the genius had looked a long time for. 

Derek was an enigma to him. He had found the boy to be insanely secretive, at times he almost reached the point of violence when questions of his past were poked at too much. He never spoke of his family, and when family was brought up he clammed up. He was big, and strong, and had a temper. But something Spencer had learned, and respected, was that the boy was insanely caring. He could be ridiculous funny...and ridiculously flirtatious, especially towards Penelope. The nature of their relationship was one that Spencer didn't quite understand. He tried hard to, but even after only a week he learned it neared impossible. The oddest part, was that Derek had almost seemed to like him. 

Spencer had written all that, in his own words, down in his journal. It was a brown leather bound journal that came with a string to wrap around it to keep it shut tight. The pages inside were unlined, so he had to make sure to keep his hand steady as he wrote. Which was hard, be his brain moved much faster than he could make his hand go, thus his writing always came out messy. He tried to make sure to write in it daily, much like his Mother had in her own, but he felt that after a week he should write down his full thoughts on everyone that had, unexpectedly, surrounded him. He opened and closed every journal entry with a quote, he felt it made them all the more special. 

"What do you even write about in there?" David asked him. It was just before curfew, and the boy hung around in the room while the others were hanging around in other parts of the school. Spencer had no idea why David chose to sit with him instead. But there he was, oddly relaxed that evening.

Spencer was startled by the question, and quickly closed the journal shut, as though afraid David would peak at it. He felt sheepish when David just raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged his shoulders in response to David's inquiry. "I don't know. My day?" 

David snorted, bemused. He was in Derek's bed, which Spencer was sure the other boy would kill him for, both hands folded behind his head. He looked as though he hadn't a care in the world. "Every day here feels about the same." 

Spencer opened his journal to quickly write down his closing quote. He chose one by Mark Twain on friendship. “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” 

"I don't know," He replied to David as he closed his journal. He wrapped the string around it, and tied it in a tight bow. He sat it beside him, and then lay down, his eyes still attached to the brown leather. "It's more than I actually used to do." 

"What did you used to do?" David inquired. He sounded as though his curiosity had peaked. Spencer wasn't surprised, he hadn't spoken much about his own life. They hadn't really pushed him. Not after David, Aaron, and Derek had made the assumption about his Mother. 

"I don't know." Spencer sighed, he closed his eyes and tried to imagine his life before it had spun too much out of control. "Science projects, mostly. I read a lot." 

David snorted. "Doesn't sound too much different from now." 

Spencer smirked, he recalled how he gazed through his microscope. It was funny, things that one would never notice were really so important, so alive, even. "I guess it wasn't." 

"Ah, but you didn't have the fabulous entertainment of me in your life," David pointed out good naturedly. Spencer grinned. "So it must have been pretty boring." 

"Yeah," Spencer agreed with him. "It was." 

David looked down to the watch on his wrist and groaned. "Shit," He cursed. "I need to get back to my room. If I get caught ditching curfew again I might actually get in trouble." He grinned at Spencer as he got up. "Stay out of trouble." 

Spencer rolled his eyes. As if he would get into any trouble. "Goodnight, David." 

David left and Spencer did a recap of his week. It has been...different than he had expected. Especially since he found himself gazing over his shoulder every few seconds. A part of him had come to believe what David and Derek had said, that it was all just in their heads. He still noticed Aaron watching Erin a bit too closely, but he assumed the boy to just be protective. 

Boarding school wasn't the prison he imagined it to feel like. But perhaps it was because Spencer wasn't really leaving a school full of friends, this was the first time he'd ever encountered such. But either way, he didn't even get out as much as the other students did. He also didn't participate in any of the activities others did. Derek tried to talk him into letting him teach him sports, he'd tried all week, each time Spencer had shot him down. He refused to even toss a baseball, or try to hit at one. There was something about a large object hurtling at you when you only have a small little bat to protect yourself that just didn't seem safe. 

Spencer closed his eyes, it was a tad bit early, Derek and Aaron hadn't even returned yet, but he felt himself growing tired. So he let the darkness overtake him.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Psst!!!" He felt himself getting shaken awake and groaned. He hugged his pillow and shoved his face into the softness so deep that he could smell the detergent. How could it be humanly possible that it was already time to get up? He hadn't even heard the alarm! "Kid, come on!" The voice whispered. 

Spencer begrudgingly cracked open his eyes. He was plunged into similar darkness, so he had to wait for his eyes to adjust, and when they did, he discovered it was Derek who hovered over him. The boy grinned when he saw Spencer become more alert. "Hey!" He greeted him enthusiastically. Though his voice was still a hushed whisper. 

"Wah is eh?" Spencer slurred. It was still dark out. The sun hadn't yet risen, and Derek hadn't even the decency to turn the dorm room light on. 

"Time to expand your horizons, kid," Derek said as a way of explanation. He tore Spencer's blankets off of him, and the boy just watched them being torn away from him sadly. His brain was still sleep muddled, and he didn't fully comprehend what was happening. All he had known was it was dark, he was cold, and that Derek was very mean.

Suddenly, Derek had gripped each of his hands and pulled him to his feet. Spencer looked at him bleary eyed, hair swished in all different directions. Derek chuckled and looked him up and down. "Damn." He shook his head in amusement. "Not so pretty when woken up, are you?"

"Mmmm, pretty huh?" Spencer asked tiredly. Derek covered his mouth with his hand and cast a worried glance over to Aaron's bed. The boy just simply flipped onto his stomach and let out a sigh, still sound asleep. 

"Not so smart, either." Derek slowly took his hand off Spencer's mouth. The boy continued to stare at him in a sleepy confusion.

"What're doin'?" Spencer inquired, he lowered his voice, aware enough to know they weren't supposed to wake Aaron. 

"Taking you out of here," Derek explained. He pushed Spencer's jacket into his hands, and Spencer stared down at it, and then back up at Derek in puzzlement. "Put it on," Derek encouraged. When Spencer didn't automatically do as directed, Derek mimed the movement of putting on a jacket. Spencer rolled his eyes and put the jacket on over his pajamas. 

"Good boy." Derek clasped Spencer's wrist tightly, and pulled him along toward the door. "Just follow my lead." 

~.~.~.~.

That was how Spencer and Derek ended up running towards the woods. Spencer had started to wake up, and thus, the panic that he should have been feeling appeared. He found himself shaking, and it wasn't from the wind. He'd barely managed to throw his shoes on before he had gotten tugged out the door, and he was pretty sure he had each shoe on the wrong foot. ...He was even pretty sure the show on his left foot, that belonged on his right foot, wasn't his. 

"What are we doing?!" He cried out as he rushed closer to Derek. He found himself shrinking more towards the older boy as they approached the dark woods. There was a path, but he still was terrified. He always had hated the dark, and running through the woods in the dark of night was not appealing. ...In fact he was pretty sure it was the start of a horror movie.

"Shh!" Derek put a finger to his lips, and a broad smile appeared on his face from behind the diget. "I'm showing you something," He informed him. He put an arm around Spencer's shoulders, and guided him into the dark woods. Spencer felt shame in the fact he practically clung to him, his hand curled in a white knuckle grip in the older boy's jacket. His whole body shook against Derek, and he had found himself begin to hide his face into the wool, as well. 

The walk seemed like it had taken forever. Spencer was petrified, so many terrible ideas had floated into his mind. Like the fact that maybe Derek didn't actually like him, and was taking him to do something horrible. ...Such as to leave him stranded in the horrible, dark, woods for the night. Spencer imagined himself lost, wandering through the woods, crying for help as he tripped over branches. Or that there could be a series of horrible people hidden in the woods, like in some kind of twisted horror movie. Multiple thoughts floated through his mind, but they were put to rest once Derek got off the path, and guided him through the woods into an open alcove, where it seemed like a fort sat in the middle of. It looked almost too professional for the average fort, he almost wanted to call it a cabin. It was well built, sturdy, and looked as though a lot of time had been spent on it. Much more professional than the average fort that some kids get together to build for whacky adventure time. Though, it was quite small.

"...What?" Spencer asked in bewilderment. Derek walked right up to the door and opened it up, he gestured for Spencer to come forward. Spencer was thankful his eyes had adjusted, and that the light of the moon was able to shine down unto the fort. He hated the darkness. He'd always had a fear of it, as far back as he could remember. 

Which was a very big reason as to why he didn't want to go inside. If the outside was that dark, he couldn't imagine what going inside of it would be like. Pitch black darkness, with no hint of where you were inside, or if you were about to hit anything clouded his thoughts. His imagination could tend to be overactive, which could have been why he also pictured animals hiding inside of it in dark corners, hungry for a snack. But, he soon entered, anyway. He wasn't quite sure why. It made no logical sense. He'd only known the other boy a week, and there he was wandering through the woods with him and going into a strange fort. But he found himself wandering towards it, and before he knew it, he was plunged inside the darkness. It was much like he had imagined in his mind. Total complete darkness. He took in a deep, shuddering breath. The placed smelled strongly of wood. It took him back to the time they got new hardwood floors, his house had smelled similarly. 

"BOO!" The noise shocked and terrified him. He let out a shriek of terror and jumped higher than he thought possible of himself. He heard Derek's laugh, and next thing he knew, a bit of light turned on in the room. He looked at the source, and was surprised to see a gas lamp. Derek walked around the room and turned the rest on, as Spencer tried to regain his composure. 

"What was that?!" He cried out in anger. He took in deep shuddering breaths, his hand held to his chest where he could feel the rapid thumping. 

"Sorry." Derek shrugged, he looked none too apologetic. If anything, he looked amused. One side of his mouth kept twitching upwards. "Couldn't resist." 

It was then that Spencer took a real look around the fort. He couldn't help but be impressed. He was unsure how the inside of it would look, but to his shock it was furnished. It all looked homemade, including a coffee table that sat in the middle of the room. A nice light colored wood, well put together and sturdy.

"I found this place awhile back," Derek explained to him. He took a seat in one of the chairs, and gestured for Spencer to do the same. He did. "It was a mess, falling apart. But I fixed it up."

Spencer looked at him with astonishment. "How did you manage to do that?!" 

Derek gave him a cryptic stare. "I have my ways." He cracked into a smile after the sentence was said. 

"You know, the more you all say that, the more fearful I become of all of you," Spencer told him dryly. In earnest, he couldn't believe that Derek had fixed the place up himself. It was in great condition. He leaned forward to drag a hand across the wood of the coffee table. It was smoothed out, not at all rough against his fingertips. "Did you make it?" He asked.

Derek nodded, he looked proud. "Yeah! Had some spare time, you know? I mean, football eats up a lot of it, but at night I'd even work on it." He then shrugged his shoulders and almost looked bashful. A look Spencer had yet to see the older boy wear. "This kind of stuff relaxes me." 

"Do you come here every night?" Spencer inquired. He was surprised that if so, he hadn't ever heard the boy sneak out. Spencer found himself to be a light sleeper, the quietest noises usually woke him.

Derek shook his head in the negative. "No," He answered. "Just sometimes." 

"Do you guys hang out here?" Spencer asked. 

Derek's face got a weird expression on it. One that Spencer couldn't, even with his extensive vocabulary, think of a word to describe. Then he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Spencer worried that he had said the wrong thing. "They don't know." Derek said softly. Spencer looked astonished.

"What?" He asked, taken aback. "They don't?" 

Derek shook his head again. "I never told them." 

"Why?" Spencer inquired curiously. They all seemed so close, it was hard to believe Derek kept the place from them. 

"Because I needed someplace...quiet," Derek explained softly. "Someplace to myself." 

Spencer's brow furrowed. "Then why did you tell me?" 

Derek looked at him in the eyes, earnesty was all Spencer could see in the orbs. It captured him in a way so that even if he had wanted to look away, he doubted his ability to. "Because I thought you would be the only one to truly appreciate it," He answered. 

Spencer took a moment to process that. Spencer had always liked peace and quiet. Even at home, he'd hide out in his room. Him, his microscope, a pile of books, and already finished home-work. He was never comfortable in groups. The loud noise of his peers at school startled and frightened him. In the quiet of his room, with just himself, he never had to worry about a fist being thrown at his face, or about the taunting words that followed him through the halls. Or the names that were said under one's breath in the midst of class. He felt like deep down, he knew what Derek meant...and he was touched by it.

"The others...I mean, they're like family, they are," Derek continued. "But sometimes...they don't get it. They don't get things like this," Derek attempted to explain. "Aaron enjoys quiet, but its his own type of quiet. Same with Emily. They wouldn't get what this place means to me." Derek looked down at the ground. "I know I don't have very much to go on after just a week, but I thought you might understand." 

Spencer nodded his head, and a tiny smile graced his face. "I think I do." He said softly. Derek looked up at him, and smiled. His smile was different that time, it was a bit more hesitant, and almost one of relief. 

They had stayed there for awhile. Derek showed Spencer the rest of the fort. There wasn't much to it, but there was a little "bedroom" area. Separated from the main area by a door frame, that had a sheet nailed atop, so it hung down from it, as though it were a makeshift curtain. It was the only other room in the place. It even had a mattress. Derek told him not to ask how he'd swung that. They then had sat and talked for awhile. Spencer had rattled on about statistics, and Derek attempted to get Spencer to understand football. It was weird, because they were two totally different people, but at that night, at that moment, they came together. Derek had seen something in Spencer, something that made him think that Spencer was the only other person in that school that could appreciate the private place he had formed for himself. He was correct. Spencer thought it was one of the most wonderful places he'd seen. It was tiny, and it was probably quiet at night. Not much furnituring, no technical appliances. Just wood and the various objects that Derek had placed in it. 

It was perfect. 

Before they left the fort, due to exhaustion, Derek told Spencer that whenever he felt like he needed a quiet place, or if he felt as though he needed to get away, that he was allowed to use the fort. He promised that if Spencer left his own stuff there, he wouldn't go through it, so long as Spencer didn't go through any of his. It was odd, Derek was a private person. But for some reason that night he had opened up a part of himself. 

It was one of the most important nights of Spencer's life. One that he'd never forget.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"You look like hell," David told Spencer at breakfast. Spencer glared at him as he cut his pancakes with tired, jagged movements. Derek was seated next time, he was surprisingly bright eyed and bushy tailed for someone who had probably gotten less sleep than Spencer. "Didn't you get any sleep?" 

"You were conked out when Derek and I got back," Aaron looked at him in concern. "What happened?" 

Spencer saw Derek slow his movements out of the corner of his eye and felt the boys eyes on him. He knew that Derek was wondering if Spencer was going to tell his secret. Spencer felt as though it were a test of Spencer's loyalty. If he had earned the huge secret which Derek had bestowed unto him. If he had broken Derek's trust at that moment, no matter what he would do after he'd have never earned it back. 

Spencer was determined to show him he'd made the right choice. "I can't get used to my bed," he lied. Well, it wasn't totally a lie. He missed his regular bed. He'd picked it out himself. "It just doesn't feel right."

"Yeah," Penelope nodded her blonde head. "It takes awhile to get used to those. I swear, that's why I hate coming back here after summer vacation. I get so used to my bed at home, and then I come back here and it's like a whole new world...and it's not shining, shimmering or splendid!" 

"Tell me, princess, when did you last let your heart decide?" Derek asked her. Spencer stared between the two of them in confusion. Emily let her fork clatter to her plate, which earned her glares from the other tables. 

"I'm sorry, but you've seen Aladdin?" She asked Derek. "Enough times to quote the song?" 

"That's from a movie?" Spencer asked in surprise. Most of the table ignored him, except the weird look he got from David. 

"Of course I've seen Aladdin," Derek scoffed. "Have you seen Jasmine?!" Emily let out a groan of disgust and Penelope rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Emily asked in disappointment. "Sexualizing a kids movie? Really?" Derek just winked at her. 

"Dude." There was a poke on Derek's shoulder. The boy turned to look at the source. It was a tall kid, well built, not as well built as Derek, but still. "You hear about Richards?" He asked.

Derek frowned up at him. "Nah, man. What about him?" 

"Man, I swear no one says anything at this school," The boy hissed. He looked as though he were in great distress. Derek's frown deepened, and everyone at the table now stared at him. "He OD'd last night, man." 

Everyone looked at him in shock. Utensils were put down, food was forgotten, the main focus was either the boy, or Derek, who opened and closed his mouth a few times, and then cleared his throat. "Why haven't I heard anything about it?" 

"Just happened, man. Last night," The kid explained. "Besides." He gestured his head towards the teacher's table. "Think good 'ol Strauss is trying to keep it on the DL," He explained. "As far as everyone will be concerned, they'll probably just try to make it sound like he just left." With that, he gave Derek a pat on the shoulder, and was off. Derek sat there in shock, his mouth hung slightly open, and his eyes looked sightless. 

"Oh my god." Penelope reached a hand across the table to touch his shoulder gently. "Derek, are you okay?" 

Derek swallowed, hard. "We...uh...he wasn't..." Derek looked up at them in confusion. "He didn't do drugs." 

"Well, people don't commonly advertise it," David replied. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Commonly." He repeated. 

"You don't get it," Derek said to David. His voice was tight with emotion. "He was one of the few people on the football team that actually gave a damn. He wouldn't do drugs."

"Perfectly healthy girl falls dead, and now a perfectly healthy football player ODs," Emily mused. Her eyes were dark and grave. "That's not suspicious."

"Emily." David gave her a look. "Just don't."

"I-I gotta go." Derek left the table. "I gotta think through some shit." 

"Derek!" Penelope cried after him. Some people in the dining hall had turned around, but he didn't seem to care. Penelope glared at Emily. "Really nice, Em." 

"Two kids have died since we've gotten here, Penelope. What would you call that?" She asked her. 

"Rich kids gone wild," David replied. 

There were more words spoken, but Spencer paid more attention to the path of which Derek had taken to exit. He bit his lip. He wondered whether or not he should go after the boy, but then a hand rest upon his shoulder. 

"I'll talk to him later," Aaron said gently. 

"Should he really be alone?" Spencer asked him cautiously. He saw Aaron's eyes widen slightly. 

"Jesus." David pushed his pancakes aside. Despite his annoyed tone, he looked just as concerned as the rest of them. "It's ten minutes until class, he'll be fine." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Derek had skipped two classes. Which Penelope hissed to Spencer meant he now had eight points. When Spencer had asked her what that meant, she told him that once you got to ten points it meant you'd be grounded to your dorm room during free time, and that he'd probably miss some of his sports meetings. 

"Which would really suck," She told Spencer. They were in the hallway, Spencer about to go to his next class. "There's a game in two weeks." 

"David said people here get away with just about everything," Spencer replied. 

"Key words are 'just' and 'about'." Penelope shrugged. She flipped a lock of blonde hair over her shoulder. "As long as you get to your classes you can get away with just about anything." 

"Ah." Spencer nodded. Penelope looked at him expectantly. "What?" He inquired.

"Could you go get him?" She inquired. Spencer's eyes widened.

"Why me? Why not Aaron?!" His voice came out almost as a squeak. There was one equation that Spencer knew the best. Comforting+Spencer=bad.

"Because Aaron isn't here, you are, and you're little and cute and I don't think he'd yell at you," Penelope answered honestly. She gave Spencer a desperate look. "You need to get a new textbook, anyway. Just, please. I don't want him to be grounded to his room." 

Spencer sighed. "Fine," He abided. 

~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer cautiously opened the door to their room, and peaked inside. 

"I'm not going to shoot you," Derek said. Spencer finally poked his entire head in and saw the boy on the bed, one earphone forgotten on his side, and his face troubled. 

"You missed two classes." Spencer rushed inside, shut the door and ran for his textbook that lay lonely on his bed. "That's eight points."

Derek rolled his eyes, irked. "I'm shaking," He retorted. 

Spencer picked up his textbook and turned to look at Derek warily. "You're going to get in trouble," He reminded him.

"What else is new?" Derek asked. He flipped through the songs on his MP3 player, and basically ignored Spencer. Who cautiously approached him, gently he laid a hand on Derek's shoulder, who flinched away. 

"I'm sorry," Was all he could manage to say. It was said softly, with the utmost sincerity. Spencer had never been one for comfort, so he just said what he knew was fact. That he was sorry. 

Derek shrugged. He looked up at Spencer, and sighed. "We weren't good friends," He said softly. "But he was a good guy." He narrowed his eyes. "He also damn sure didn't do drugs." 

Spencer bit his lip. "My Uncle Daniel overdosed," He admitted softly. It was a pretty big family secret, considering that it was his Father's brother, and that image was important. 

Derek rubbed a hand on his face and sighed in annoyance. "Look, kid, I'm sorry about that. That sucks. Don't think I'm not being sympathetic to that. But look, I know this kid...or, well, knew him. I know that he actually gave a damn about football, and I know he didn't do drugs." 

"31,758 people die each year of a drug overdose," Spencer quoted to him. Derek continued to look annoyed, and the emotion was slowly morphing into anger. "...I don't know if your friend was one of them."

Derek's morphing annoyance turned from pending anger, to shock. "You're going with what Emily thinks?" He asked. "Do you think he was killed?" 

Spencer paused. He looked calm on the outside, but inside he was deeply distressed. He had begun to let go of the "hardy boys" hunt for the killer. He'd started to truly believe that it had all been in his head. That no one had been poisoned. That he was being paranoid.

"I think it's really weird that another student died exactly a week after the first," He said gravely. "I think that, and I hope it's not a pattern." 

"He didn't do drugs, kid." Derek sat up straight and looked Spencer dead in his eyes. "Which means either some other shit went down, or someone did this to him. I need you to believe me on that." 

Spencer's eyes widened. Derek was asking him for his trust...again. Derek had given him his the night before, the least he could do was return the favor. 

"Alright," He nodded in affirmation. "I believe you."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"You've got to be kidding me," David cried out. It was just after he and Derek had each finished their different sports meetings. They were hidden up in Aaron, Derek and Spencer's room. Derek had just explained how he thought something weird was going on. "You've joined team Sherlock?" 

"Look, man, something weird is happening here," Derek said. "I don't know what I believe, but I know what I know. What I know is that Richards didn't do drugs, and that Kathryn was perfectly healthy." 

"Two perfectly healthy kids both suddenly drop dead exactly a week apart from each other," Emily mused aloud. She looked at David, searchingly. "Come on, David. That has to sound odd, even to you."

"Everything here is odd," David argued. Everyone rolled their eyes. "Okay, say, if someone was killing them, why would they kill one boy and one girl with virtually nothing in common?" 

"You're wrong," Spencer's voice, and his words, surprised everyone around him. The boy was seated on the floor next to Derek's bed, pretzel style. His face one of a boy deep in thought. "There is a connection. Penelope, you told me that the soccer team was especially upset because Kathryn was their star player." Penelope nodded. "Derek, you said Richards was one of the few on the football team to actually take it seriously." 

Derek nodded his head. "Yeah," He confirmed. "He was an even better player than I am." 

David snorted. "I'm so quoting you on that later." 

Spencer ignored David's remark, still deep in thought. "So, two kids, both healthy, and both extremly athletic, both die exactly a week apart." 

Everyone thought that over, before David spoke again. "They both played two totally different sports. Most of the kids here play sports, Spencer. That's not one hell of a connection." 

"It might not be," Aaron cut into the conversation. "But it is a connection, and it is weird." 

"So what do you say we do about it?" David asked. "We're already attached at each other's hips." 

"I say we do a little digging," Aaron responded hesitantly. David looked at him in astonishment. Aaron held up a hand to him to stop him from replying. "If for nothing else, it may put our minds at ease if we find nothing." 

"What are we all supposed to do?" David asked. 

"Emily said so herself," Derek smirked. "We're misfits. Each of us have totally different talents, and almost nothing in common. Which means, we're all capable of doing something different." 

"Right," Emily agreed. Her face lit up. "We've got the lawyer." She gestured to Aaron. "The genius." She gestured to Spencer. "The muscle." She gestured to Derek. "The tech." Then to Penelope. "The Marine." To David, who smirked. "Then...well...me." 

"The agent." Aaron decided. Emily looked at him in confusion.

"Agent?" She asked in surprise. 

"You're level headed, smart, excellent at reading people," He explained. "You're our agent." 

"Alright!" Emily grinned. She then turned to look at David, grin on her face. "When you think about it, we all make a great team." 

"Heh." David grinned back at her, couldn't help himself. "When you word it like that, we do sound pretty badass." 

"Look," Aaron cut in seriously. "We're not a team of detectives, and we won't try to be. We'll do some light digging, and we'll figure out exactly what happened. It might be all it appears to be, or it might be nothing at all. But the police, and Strauss, aren't going to do anything," He explained. 

"Alright," Penelope nodded her head. Her whole body was shaking, but she offered them all a smile and stuck her hand out. "All in." 

David raised an eyebrow. "The hand thing?" He asked. "Are you kidding?" 

"I've always wanted to do it!" Penelope whined. "Come on! Who is in?!" 

"I'm in." Emily smacked her hand on top of Penelope's, and flashed her a smile. 

"Me too." Derek agreed, and placed his hand on top of Emily's. 

"Me three." Aaron put his hand on top of Derek's. 

Spencer slowly placed his own hand on top of Aaron's. He attempted not to think about the amount of germs transmitted through the touch of hand. 

All eyes turned to David, who rolled his eyes. "What the hell." He shrugged and put his hand in. "Gives me something to do. I'm in." 

"What do we cheer to?" Penelope asked them. 

"To the misfits!" Emily suggested.

"Oh you've got to be-." David rolled his eyes. 

"On the count of three," Penelope encouraged, a smile now graced her still worried face. "1...2...3....TO THE MISFITS!" 

"To the misfits!" They all echoed and shot their fists into the air.

It was one of the stupidest, craziest decisions Spencer had made in his entire life. 

But at least his school year would be memorable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions are asked, and Jennifer might hold the key to the start of the solution to their mystery.

Spencer sighed as he walked through the grounds outside, wet blades of grass clung to his shoes. The water was left over from the storm the night prior. He'd been up all night as he listened to the sounds of the droplets smack into the window. Someone had also deemed it to be a good idea to hang chimes up outside, and he cursed whoever the idiotic idea had belonged to.

He wasn't supposed to be alone. He had expected to run into Derek outside, as he usually did. Not that he thought it much mattered, only two days had passed and he wasn't an athlete. What they had found out hadn't been much. Penelope found out he was declared dead at the hospital at 11 PM, and Derek discovered he'd been taken by Cruz because he'd been acting weird and was feeling severely ill. He'd died at the hospital. The official cause of death was listed to be an overdose, which Penelope had also discovered. It matched up to what Derek's football player friend said. Spencer didn't want to know how she'd discovered all of it. He was pretty sure it wasn't obtained legally.

Spencer pointed out that his symptoms sounded like those of a slower cyanide poisoning. It sounded as though it took place over a few day period. Penelope had been especially horrified, and asked if they all could already be dying. Spencer had been quick to assure her they'd all have had symptoms, and to just keep an eye and ear open. 

But naturally, the genius ended up wandering around the grounds, which a fog covered some of. He was almost positive that Derek hung around outside the building at that exact moment as he waited for football practise. He sighed, and went to turn around to go back inside and head up to his room, when a voice halted him. 

"Lost, son?" A voice asked kindly. Spencer gasped and spun around, his heart slowed to a more natural rate when he saw the source of the voice. It was the groundskeeper. He was a middle aged man, long beard, his face slightly covered by the shadow his hat cast. His frame was small, though hidden in baggy clothes. His thin lips formed a kind smile directed towards Spencer. 

"Uh, no." Spencer shook his head in the negative. He offered a tiny, shy smile back. "I just...uh...was supposed to meet a friend, but uh...I guess he forgot." 

"Ah, I see." The groundskeeper nodded. He then gestured to the garden with a thick gloved hand. "You enjoy gardening?" 

Spencer observed the flowers. "I find the cell structure of plants fascinating," he replied. "But I've never really done any type of gardening. It doesn't seem like it makes much sense to do it this time of year, it's already growing cold." 

The man chuckled. "I don't find it moot, plenty of flowers bloom in fall," he informed him. "But I don't just garden, I work the grounds. Once it becomes too cold for my flowers, I'll begin to do my other duties. But gardening? It's what I truly love." 

Spencer nodded. "They are quite beautiful," he agreed. He kneeled next to the flowers, and made sure his pants didn't quite touch the grass, he hadn't wanted stains. "Huh, it actually might not be so moot after all," he observed. "Winter Aconites survive cold weather beautifully, I'd forgotten that." 

"Ah." He nodded. "So they do." He kneeled next to Spencer, he didn't seem to mind his own pants growing dirty and wet. "As do snowdrops, which I plan to plant. It arrives in late winter to early spring." 

"Do you really have a winter garden?" Spencer inquired curiously. 

The man shrugged. "They don't care much for the gardens in the winter. They more require me to shovel, and rake sometime this fall. Get the grass green again in spring." 

"Hard work," Spencer replied.

"Ah, so it is. I'm glad there's someone who can appreciate that fact," he said wistfully. He then removed one of his gloves and stuck out his hand. "Mason Stone," he introduced himself. "What's your name, young man?" 

Spencer grinned. The man talked almost as though he was older than the age Spencer perceived. He looked down at the hand and bit his lip. "Spencer Reid," Spencer replied. "...I don't shake hands."

"Ah." Mason nodded respectfully and put his glove back on his hand. "Very well." 

"Are you going to grow pumpkins?" Spencer asked. A grin spread on his face, Spencer loved pumpkins. He'd loved the season of fall altogether, it held one of his favorite holidays. 

"Already been growing them," Mason answered. "We have pumpkin carvings, of course, some of the kids see it more as a hassle than anything," he said sadly. 

"How is it a hassle?" Spencer asked in surprise. "I've always wanted to carve a pumpkin!" 

Mason looked at him, equal surprise showed on his features. "You've never carved a pumpkin?" 

Spencer shook his head sadly. "No," he sighed. "But I always wanted to." 

"Well." Mason smiled at him. "How about this; before the big pumpkin carving event, maybe I'll give you some private lessons." 

Spencer's face lit up with excitement. "Really?" He inquired. Mason nodded his head. "I'd love that! I've observed the art of it before, but I've never truly gotten a chance to have the experience." 

Mason chuckled. "You're a smart one, aren't you?" He inquired. 

Spencer flushed and shrugged. "I've been told." 

"What's your passion?" Mason asked. "A science?" 

Spencer thought over the question as he gazed at the flowers. The question was much more complicated than the other man probably perceived it to be. "I don't know," Spencer replied honestly. "My Mother was a professor of 15th century literature, she taught me a lot about it, I always did enjoy it," he explained. 

"Ah, but it's not your passion," Mason observed wisely. He smiled at the boy with understanding. 

"Was this yours?" Spencer asked curiously. 

Mason thought over the question, and a tiny smile formed on his face. As though he were smiling at his own private joke. Spencer cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Passions change by the day," he explained. "What you want one day, may not be what you want the next. We all think we want one thing, more than anything in the world. But it doesn't quite work out that way." 

"So...it wasn't?" Spencer asked in confusion. Mason laughed heartily. 

"It's all fine," he chuckled. "Things work out as they're supposed to." 

"You honestly believe that?" Spencer inquired. He'd never quite agreed with it, himself. He didn't get how with all the pain in the world, that people could assume it was all just supposed to happen that way. 

Mason thought over Spencer's inquiry. "Heh, now I'm the one who doesn't really know." 

Spencer smiled sadly at him, and the two shared a moment of silence. "What are you doing wandering at this hour? Do you have any activities?" Mason asked him suddenly.

Spencer frowned. "You mean sports?" Mason nodded. "Do I look like I play sports?" He asked with a raised brow. Mason laughed in response.

"No, I suppose you don't." He continued to laugh. "Well then, you must be rather bored. Being so bright, your work must not trip you up," he observed.

Spencer nodded. "It bores me, really." 

"Then why not come out to keep me company some time?" Mason offered. Spencer blinked in surprise. Mason smiled, almost shyly. "None of the other students take any interest into the things that I do. It gets lonely." 

"I know what that's like," Spencer said empathetically. "I'd love to help you out. Maybe I can help you when the pumpkins grow!" He gasped. 

Mason laughed. "Now, there's a plan!" He grinned. 

Spencer opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by another voice. "SPENCER!" It was Derek. "Where the hell have you been?!" Derek was covered in a sheen of sweat, and was gazing at Spencer, who was crouched next to Mason.

"I..um...was looking for you, actually." Spencer blinked in surprise. 

"Dude, football, practice, the practice of the football. You could have found me on the field," Derek informed him. Spencer's mouth opened into a surprised "o". "Don't you have an eidetic memory?"

"Spencer got one hour of sleep," Spencer replied. "Eidetic memory apply mainly to things Spencer reads and sees. One hour sleep, and no read? Spencer's memory go bye bye." 

"So does your vocabulary." Derek chuckled. He grasped Spencer's arm and tugged him to his feet. "Hello, sir." Derek inclined his head to Mason, who nodded back.

"Big game soon," Mason commented. "You think you're ready?" 

Derek nodded. "Should be." He hadn't sounded too sure of himself. Spencer assumed it was because one of the team's best players was...well...dead. 

"Well, good luck," Mason told him. He then directed his attention back to Spencer. "Young man, I hope to see you soon." 

Spencer nodded. "Of course!" 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Hey, I have a great idea." Spencer was seated on his bed, and looked like a chastised child. Derek stood above him with his arms crossed over his chest. "Let's assume there's someone out there killing students, and then go for a walk alone around the grounds. That sounds totally safe and like an idea a genius would come up with," Derek said sarcastically. Spencer rolled his eyes.

"To be fair, I was looking for you...and I wasn't alone," he responded. He leaned beside himself and picked up his journal, he'd hoped Derek would take the hint to stop talking as he untied the bow.

"Why were you hanging around the groundskeeper, anyway?" Derek inquired. He sat on the bed next to Spencer, and Spencer quickly slammed the journal shut again, he tied the bow with shaky hands, he hadn't wanted Derek to see anything inside. 

"I was curious about the pumpkin growing process," Spencer answered. At Derek's blank look he continued, "I've never carved one!" 

Derek snorted. "Yeah, because that's a life goal." 

Spencer shrugged. "It's on my bucket list." 

"You have a bucket list?" Derek asked him in disbelief. He stared at Spencer like he was insane when the boy nodded. "You're fifteen." 

"Turning sixteen," Spencer defended himself. "Besides, you never know." 

"Spencer Reid has a bucket list," Derek mused. He shook his head. "I have to know what's on this list." 

Spencer opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by Emily, who stormed into the room. She'd shut the door abnormally softly, considering her composure. "Aaron was right," she told them. She walked forward and sat down on Derek's bed, which was closest to Spencer's. "Strauss is whacked." 

"I don't think Aaron was the first one to come up with that theory," Derek responded. Emily glared at him. 

"You don't get it," Emily said. She ran a hand through her hair, soft and straight. "Let me ask you a question, how many times have you seen Strauss panic?"

"I've only been here for a week and four days," Spencer answered blankly. Emily rolled her eyes. 

"Very few times," Derek replied. He eyed Emily cautiously. "Why?" 

"Because I overheard her in her office, and she was talking to someone while freaking out," Emily informed them. Both of Derek's eyebrows raised and Spencer just looked between the two of them. "She's been a mess since the second death, guys. A mess." 

"Two students died exactly a week apart, I'd be a bit freaked, too," Derek countered. Emily glowered at him.

"I thought you were on board that there's something weird going on here," she said. She sounded almost disappointed.

"I'm fully on board with that," Derek stated. "I'm just saying we can't look too far into everything."

"When did you become Aaron?" She joked. Derek glared at her. "Also, for the love of God, if you're not going to be any help at least take a shower. You smell." 

"That's because I actually play a sport, princess," he shot back. He pushed up off of Spencer's bed, gave the kid a pat on the back which had almost sent him tumbling face first into the blankets, and then brushed past Emily. "Shower it is." 

Emily released a sigh of mild frustration after Derek left, and then looked back at Spencer, who stared at her wide eyed. The two of them hadn't really spent much time alone together. He liked Emily, but she wasn't very open, and neither was he. It made for very quiet, awkward, conversations.

"This whole thing might just be stupid, right?" She inquired. He blinked in surprise at the note of fear in her voice. "I mean, we're probably just a bunch of bored teenagers looking for a mystery." 

Spencer struggled to come up with an answer. He hadn't a clue how to respond to that. He'd been telling it to himself for the whole time he'd attended school. "I don't know," he said honestly. "But I know I've never been in a situation like this." 

Emily laughed, it was rather dull, and held almost no tone of humor to it. "I've been in plenty of...uncomfortable situations," she revealed slowly. "I mean, my Mom is an ambassador. I'm surrounded by politics. It rarely gets much scarier than that." 

"Never really did care much for politics." Spencer nodded along to her. "It's all too..." He paused, unable to think of the correct word.

"Political?" Emily joked. Spencer laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I get what you mean." 

Spencer recalled his conversation with Mason, and bit his lip. He gathered up the courage to ask Emily one of the first ever personal questions he'd asked of her, "Hey Emily?" She nodded her head, he had her full attention. "What do you want to do when you grow up?" 

Emily appeared stunned by the question. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, and then she just looked around the room, as though she were to gain inspiration. "That's a loaded question," she admitted.

"I know," Spencer sounded apologetic. "I just...I was thinking about it earlier...and I don't know."

"You're a genius," Emily pointed out, she'd almost looked amused by Spencer's remark. "What can't you do?" 

"Sports," Spencer answered. Emily blinked in surprise, and Spencer slowly smiled. She laughed.

"Well, unless you're planning to become a football player, I think you're good." She continued to laugh. She really had a nice laugh, he thought, she should laugh a bit more. She had a tendency to be a bit too serious, and her humor was always more of the dry kind. 

"Please, the chances of a high school football player ever making it to the NFL is 1 in 6,000," Spencer scoffed. 

"Don't tell that to Derek," Emily replied in amusement. "You might just break his heart." 

"Is that what Derek wants to do?" Spencer inquired. "Join the NFL?" 

Emily paused, her mouth halfway open and her eyes once again darted around the room. She closed her mouth, and her eyebrows knit together. "Damn," she cursed. "I don't know." 

"Isn't it scary?" Spencer asked. "I mean, we're all going to be going into the real world, where we'll have to pick careers, buy an apartment, learn to live by ourselves...it's scary." 

"The living by myself part sounds pretty nice," Emily said honestly. "You know? Getting my own place. Not having to live off of anything my Mother has given me. Becoming my own person." She looked wistful. 

"I guess that's your current dream," Spencer pointed out. Emily once again looked at him in confusion.

"What's that?" She asked. 

"Independance," Spencer stated.

Emily looked at him for a little while, and then slowly smiled. "Independance," she mused. "Yeah, I guess it is." She shook her head, as if breaking out of a trance. "What about you, genius? You crave independence?" 

Spencer thought that over for a moment before he replied, "I've never really have had to. I just kind of always have been." 

"Oh come on." Emily didn't look like she believed him one bit. "You're a little mini-genius who has skipped two grades, could have skipped more, and you have a library in your head. You're telling me your parents didn't wrap you in bubble wrap to make sure nobody could touch you?" 

Spencer smiled fondly. "My Mom would have if she could have," he answered earnestly. "My Father..." He stopped himself, let the sentence hang in the air. 

Emily stared at him expectantly, but then her face switched to something almost of apprehension. Spencer had known that meant something else was coming. "You never did tell us why you didn't skip more grades..." 

"I haven't even been here for two weeks yet," Spencer pointed out with a lopsided smile. "Aren't I supposed to keep some mystery to stay interesting?" 

"I repeat, you're a genius with a library in your head. You could write us your auto-biography and you'd still be interesting," she joked. Spencer let out a small laugh. 

After another lull in the conversation, Emily spoke up again, "I get it, you know?" 

It was then Spencer's turn to look confused. "Get what?" 

"Not wanting to talk about your personal life too much," Emily explained. "In case you haven't noticed, none of us are too open, either." 

"Eh." Spencer shook the remark off dismissively. "Like I said, we haven't even known each other two weeks."

"Eh, well, don't expect the life stories to be pouring out any time soon," Emily warned him. "Especially not from Derek. I've known him for years, and I still barely know anything about his personal life."

Spencer felt his heart rate speed up at that, and felt himself grow impossibly more confused. Derek's gesture to him had been touching, and had let Spencer in on a very personal aspect of him. He still hadn't been sure if he totally understood Derek's motive behind it, but he still couldn't help but appreciate it. Sometimes he'd felt as though the whole night was just a dream. 

"If we discover that something is happening," It took Spencer a moment to realize Emily had begun speaking again. "Are you just going to go home?" 

Spencer frowned. "Are you?" 

Emily rolled her eyes. "Unless more than half of the student population drops dead, I'm pretty much stuck here. Telling my Mom kids are getting murdered? It wouldn't even been the most ridiculous excuse I've used to get out of here." 

"Do you hate it here?" Spencer asked. 

"Can't stand it," Emily answered immediately. Spencer raised both his eyebrows, and she didn't even change expressions. "Like you said, I want independance. I want to be on my own, not crammed in some sad excuse for a school where kids can drop dead and in less than a week people are already back to normal." 

"How are they doing it?" Spencer inquired. "Getting back to normal," he elaborated. "I... I have the image of that girl stuck in my head, still," he admitted. "I can't get rid of it." 

"Good," Emily stated. Spencer looked at her with hurt and astonishment. "Not good that you're suffering, but good that you actually feel something. People are just trying to push it out of their mind, continue with their perfect lives, so they're believing whatever is fed to them by the school. People honestly think that football player just left school, and that the OD is a rumor. Be glad you're not like that. You're too human." 

"I'm still trying to figure out if humanity is a win or not," Spencer admitted shyly. His voice had been barely audible. 

"Humanity sucks ass," Emily informed him honestly. Spencer let out a surprised laugh at the bluntness of the statement. "It does! But it's better than the alternative." 

"Because the alternative is what the monsters are," Spencer said sadly. 

"The monsters?" Emily asked in amusement.

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win," Spencer quoted. Emily looked at him blankly. "It's a quote by Stephen King," he explained. 

"Of course it is." She still looked amused. "What's it mean? That we're all monsters?" 

"I personally think it means we all have the potential to be," Spencer responded. "But it's whether or not we let the monsters inside of us win. With compassion, and humanity, we can all be good people. But without that?" The final question hung in the air. 

"Damn," Emily cursed. "I thought you usually had to be high to have this type of deep discussion." She grinned. 

"High or fearing for your life." Spencer shrugged. "Normally the only two options." 

"Sad but true," Emily agreed. "Sad but true."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Has anyone found anything out on Kathryne?" Aaron inquired. They were all seated for dinner, once again, at their own table. Squished together, so that no one could hear their conversation.

"What's there to find out?" Penelope asked. She took a long sip of her drink before she continued, "I checked her records, she was a clean student with no health problems." 

"How many criminal offenses do you make per week?" Spencer asked.

Penelope gave him a sly look and replied, "Don't ask questions that you can't handle the answer to." She then wiggled her eyebrows. Most of the table cracked up.

"We've practically interrogated the entire football team," Aaron continued. "Has anyone spoken to Kathryne's friends?" 

"They scare me more than the football team," Penelope answered honestly. David and Emily cracked up. 

"Why are they scary?" Spencer asked curiously. They all gave him a look that Spencer didn't quite understand, so he'd just continued to blink innocently. 

"He's adorable!" Penelope cooed. She reached over the table and ruffled his hair. He frowned and pouted, his hair a wavy mess. 

Spencer's frown deepened, but into one of deep thought. "Didn't you say Jennifer was close to her?" He inquired softly. His eyes drifted over to the table which the girl in question was seated at. The blonde had still looked depressed, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, bags under her eyes, and her whole body looked as though it was purely exhausted. 

Jennifer hadn't been brought up many more times in the small time he'd been there. Penelope had been the one to mostly bring her up, and tried to interact with her a few times. The others didn't speak of her much.

"Jennifer was probably one of her best friends," Emily said. "Why?" 

"You guys said you used to be friends with Jennifer," Spencer recalled. "Why not just try to ask her?" 

All of them, minus Penelope, looked at him as though he'd grown another head. "Yeah, Spencer." David looked at him with exasperation, it bordered on annoyance. "Have you not been paying attention to why that wouldn't work?" 

"It doesn't seem like she hates you." Spencer continued to stare them innocently. "It just seems like she's busy." 

"He's right," Penelope spoke up before anyone else had gotten the chance to argue Spencer's point. "If we can just find a time where she's not busy we could talk to her."

"Good luck with that." David snorted. 

"Try to talk to her after soccer practice," Spencer recommended. "Right before, or after, she hits the showers. You might be able to get her before anyone else can." 

"Good deal!" Penelope nodded her head and stuck her fist out. Spencer stared at it, and then back to her in confusion. 

"Dude." David stared at him, and then back to Penelope's fist. "It's a fist-bump." 

"A what?" Spencer asked in confusion. Penelope still hadn't put down her fist, and he continued to stare at it. 

"Make a fist," Derek instructed. Spencer just stared at him in confusion, and then slowly obeyed as he closed up his hand. "Now bump it into hers." 

"...You want me to hit her fist?!" He asked in horror. He stared at Derek like he'd just asked him to set a group of kittens on fire. 

"Oh for the love of." Derek rolled his eyes and then looked at David, who was across from him. "Hey, David, fist bump it." He stuck out his fist, and David took out his own and they bumped them gently together. Then immediately extracted the fist. 

Spencer frowned, not entirely grasping the concept or the point of it. But when he saw Penelope's fist was still out, and she gazed at him expectantly, he closed his own, once again forming a fist, and lightly bumped it into her fist. Thus, he repeated the movements he'd just seen David and Derek do, and then immediately extracted the fist. 

"There we go!" Derek gripped his shoulder and shook it. Spencer frowned, he really hadn't understood their gestures of affection.

"So, we kidnap Jennifer after soccer practice and interrogate her?" Emily inquired. She raised both her eyebrows. "Yeah, sounds simple." 

"Or, I'll just take her aside and talk to her," Penelope suggested. She then narrowed her eyes and looked around the table "Alone."

"I still don't understand how on earth you're going to do this subtly," David said, his doubt apparent in his voice. 

"Derek managed," Penelope pointed out. 

"That's different, they're his fellow football players! You talking to Jennifer will be like 'Hey! we haven't spoken in awhile! By the way, was your now dead best friend acting weird before she dropped?'. It's not going to end well," David told her. Most of the table glared at him.

"I'll handle it," Penelope assured him. "Jennifer and I were just about best friends." Her eyes then lit up. "Maybe I should bring Spencer! Spencer's little and cute!" 

"I'm fifteen," Spencer whined. "I'm not cute...and I'm about to reach a growth spurt," he sounded highly indignant, and most of the people at the table had to swallow down their laughter.

"Yes, young man." David reached across to give Spencer's head a few pats. "I'm sure you'll be a big tall boy one day." 

Spencer's glare probably felt deadly to him, but he looked more like an angry kitten to everyone else, who had to once again swallow their laughter. "Men can grow until the age of twenty-five," Spencer informed them. "I still have plenty of time." 

"Have you even reached puberty?" Derek teased him. Spencer glared at him, and Derek just continued to grin. 

"Most boys hit puberty between 9 and 14," Spencer stated grudgingly. 

Derek continued to grin. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Oh leave him alone." Penelope glared at Derek from across the table. "Spencer, sweetie, next time sit between me and Emily. We'll be nice to you." 

"Damn." Derek held a hand to his chest mock discouragement and hurt. "Here for only a little over the week and you're already stealing my girls, pretty boy?" 

"Your girls?!" Emily cried out in disgust. 

"Pretty boy?" David questioned around the same time. 

"He's pretty, and he's a boy, I know you're bad at math, but put two and two together," Derek replied to David, and then just winked at Emily, who pretended to gag. 

"You just called a boy pretty," David still sounded stunned. "Something you want to tell us?"

"Yes." Derek nodded. "He." He gestured to Spencer. "Is pretty, and I'm comfortable enough with my sexualty to say that." David groaned. "You know, David, girls like confidant guys. Try it. You might get laid." 

"Why couldn't they have put me on a different floor?" Spencer asked with despair. The whole table erupted in laughter, and they all received glares from the tables that surrounded them. 

"Okay," Aaron sobered up first. "So, the plan is for Penelope to talk to Jennifer tomorrow, be subtle, see what you can find out." 

"Aye, aye, Captain!" She saluted him. 

"What about the rest of us?" Emily asked. 

"Well, apparently Spencer's job is to sit around and look pretty," David quipped. Spencer gave him another angry kitten glare, and Penelope smacked him on the arm. 

Derek and David then begun to banter back and forth, with the occasional witty remark added from either Emily or Penelope, while Aaron facepalmed, and looked through the cracks of his fingers at Haley, who was seated a few tables away. 

Spencer couldn't help but think how these were the only people that truly wanted to look into if anything terrible was happening at the school...

They were all screwed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New faces emerge from the shadows, and old feelings arise from within.

Spencer hated mornings. 

It wasn't always that way. He'd never hated them before, when he'd had the ability to have coffee, but since he'd arrived boarding school? He loathed it. 

Waking up in the morning used to actually be one of his favorite things. He'd even used to wake up so early that he could watch the sunrise. He never had liked going to bed very much, since he'd always found himself being haunted by nightmares, so when he went to bed it always had felt as though he were setting himself up for whatever terrible things that his mind could conjure up, which, considering that he was a reader, was quite a lot. He had also been chronically terrified of the dark. His Father hadn't allowed him to sleep with his light on, which was one of the reasons he'd end up cuddled up with his Mom while she read to him until he felt safe enough to return to his own bedroom. Sometimes it would be at the oddest hours, luckily his parents started sleeping in separate rooms when he was little. Though, he was pretty sure his Father knew he still went in to sit with his Mother after his nightmares, but there were some cases even a lawyer knew he couldn't win.

Besides, anyone who thought they could tear Spencer Reid away from his Mother's grasp had another thing coming. Ill or not, Diana Reid would never willingly let anyone pull her son away from her. No matter how bad his Mother's schizophrenia would get, she would always try to do the best thing for him. Even though she wasn't always capable, Spencer never loved her any less, because she'd always tried. She always tried, and she had always cared. Unlike his Father, who was too busy being a success that he hadn't the time for either of them. Most of his clients were beyond wealthy, and he never could seem to lose a case. That's what paid the bills after his Mother had become too ill to work, and that was what had been paying for his boarding school. But he'd have traded all the money in the world to be with his Mother again. 

"Spencer." Aaron shook him. He apparently hadn't noticed the fact that Spencer was already awake. "Come on, gotta get up." 

"Go 'way." He smacked Aaron's hands away. He was tired and sad. He'd wanted to lay in bed and wallow in self-pity. He was pretty sure he had earned it at that point. 

"They have french toast in the dining hall today." Aaron attempted to lure him out with promises of incredible food. But it didn't make any difference. Spencer was sad, tired, and stubborn.

"Not hungry," Spencer muttered. He wrapped both his arms around his pillow tightly, and hung on for dear life. 

"I swear to god, kid." That was Derek, and he'd sounded cranky and tired. Not a good combination for the boy. Aaron had probably been forced to shake him awake, as well. "If I have to carry your skinny as downstairs I'm not going to be happy." Spencer heard the shuffling of blankets, and then felt Aaron's hand that still rest on his back stiffen. 

"What the hell happened to you?" Aaron's voice had been at its most serious. That had made Spencer become more alert than the promise of delicious french toast.

"Wha-oh shit," Derek cursed. Spencer finally cracked an eye open, his curiosity peaked, but his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw what Aaron had been referring to. Derek was a mess. His PJ pants were covered in dirt and leaves, which had transferred onto his bed. His shoes were in the corner of the room, filthy. Spencer attempted not to be amused by the leaves that had transferred to Derek's bed, because he knew where Derek had probably gone to.

"Where the hell did you go last night?" Aaron's voice had almost turned deadly. He had removed the hand from Spencer's back, and approached Derek. His back and muscles taut, both his eyebrows knit together, it was Aaron's way of preparing for a fight. 

"Fine, you caught me, I went out for a drink." Derek shrugged, as though it were no big deal. He cast Spencer a look out of the corner of his eye, and Spencer had to withhold a sigh. He'd known what the look meant, it meant he needed to keep his mouth shut. 

"I thought we agreed to stick together." Aaron had gotten even closer to Derek, so that they started to get in one another's face. Derek had started to tense up as he got defensive. Spencer was positive wherever the discussion was heading, it wasn't going to end well. 

"Man, I went out for a drink. Chill out." Derek tried to brush past Aaron, who gripped his arm tightly, fingers dug into the skin and held Derek in place.

Spencer watched the scene with wide eyes, and much to his humiliation, he had brought his knees him to his chest, and hugged them tightly. He'd always hated fighting. It was all his parents had ever done. 

"Get off of me," Derek ordered him. Aaron continued to keep his grip on Derek's arm. "Dude, get off!" 

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Aaron barked. Spencer flinched at the volume of his voice. "One of your teams players died, Derek. Does that mean nothing to you?!" 

"SCREW YOU!" Derek had gotten right back in Aaron's face. His own voice had risen in volume drastically. Spencer resisted the embarrassing urge to hide his face in the fluffy comfort of his PJ pants. "I care a lot, man. I just wanted a drink." 

Aaron's lips were a straight line, his eyes narrowed, and his face one much too serious, and much too dangerous, for his age. "We've been talking about someone killing off sports players, Derek," his voice was even. Deceivingly calm. "So you decide to go outside in the dead of night and get a drink? You couldn't drink in here?" 

"I'm not drinking in our dorm room, man. Besides, I'm fine. So what's it matter?" Derek asked. 

"IT MATTERS A LOT! I DON'T BUY THE STORY ABOUT THE DAMN DRIN-!" Aaron was shocked when he was cut off by Spencer.

"PLEASE STOP YELLING!" Spencer pleaded. When they both turned to look at the boy they were shocked to see the state that he'd put himself in. His PJ covered legs pulled tight to his chest, his arms wrapped around them as he gripped tightly at the fabric, his eyes wide and afraid. He even rocked himself slightly. "I hate yelling," he continued pitifully. 

Derek and Aaron were both silent for awhile, and Spencer could feel each of their gaze on him. The silence was broken by Derek, who must have pitied him, "We'll talk later, man." 

There was a moment more of tense silence, before Aaron replied, "Yeah." 

After a more calming silence, despite the tension in his room, Spencer had untucked his legs from his chest as he watched the two boys warily. He felt slightly humiliated by his own actions, but their voices had triggered other memories buried deep, ones he hadn't wanted to confront. Aaron then walked over to him, and gripped his wrist to pull him to his feet. 

"Get dressed and we'll get some breakfast," he told him softly, comfortingly. A drastic contrast to the tone he'd just used on Derek. Spencer nodded his head, and Aaron then patted him on the back a few times. He saw Derek send him a worried look, but Spencer ignored it as he grabbed his clothes. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Are you two okay?" Emily asked in concern as she observed Derek and Spencer as they took their seats for breakfast. Derek looked annoyed, and exhausted, Spencer just looked depressed. Her eyebrows then nearly raised to her hairline when she saw Aaron walk towards the table, he looked a mix of mad, and concerned. His gaze was mainly on Derek, who glared back at him. The tension between the two hadn't diminished with time. 

"Fine," Derek grit out. He still stared at Aaron, eyes narrowed. 

"I'm fine," Spencer said softly. He looked at Emily through his lashes, she hadn't looked like she bought it at all. She looked between the three of them, and Spencer hung his head and allowed his hair cover his face some. He didn't want to face an interrogation that morning, he felt particularly down. He hadn't even been feeling home-sick as much as he simply felt as though he missed his Mother, but if the phrase home is where the heart is meant anything, than he assumed it was one in the same. 

"You two need a nap," Penelope observed as she sat down. Her bright blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail to form a giant spiral curl, held by a bright pink elastic. "You look exhausted." 

"Long night, babygirl," Derek told her. He looked down at his food with distaste, Spencer followed suit. 

"Ohhhh." Penelope grinned from ear to ear and leaned over the table with a flirtatiously. "Do tell." She winked. 

Derek paused for a moment. His grumpy expression slowly changed, and his signature grin begun to spread on his face before he let out a deep chuckle. "Oh babygirl," he chuckled out. "You surely know how to pick a man up." 

"I also know how to lay them down." She winked again, and Derek blew her a kiss. She caught it in the air, kissed her fist, and then threw it back. Derek caught it, and held it to his own chest. 

Spencer looked between the two of them with tired confusion. It had become a regular thing since he'd been there, but he had yet to grow used to it. It had been incredibly hard to. He'd never really seen anything like it, and no one around him had been able to answer any of his questions about it. Just that they weren't dating, but that it was who they were. The nicknames, the kisses, the never ending flirting. Some of the nicknames he hadn't even understood, but he never questioned either of them about it directly. They were both who they were, and it seemed to make them happy. Didn't mean he understood it, it just meant he had to adapt to it. Slowly, but surely. 

"Well, you guys look like hell," David stated as he sat down at the table, same side as Penelope and Emily. "Aaron looks like he is about to start a war, so my assumption is he's pissed at Derek, who keeps staring at Aaron every two seconds, and Spencer." He paused, and just stared at Spencer. Spencer looked back at him tiredly. He saw David's face soften, so he assumed he must look pretty pathetic. "You need to catch some extra shut-eye." 

"Is it still the beds?" Penelope inquired of him sympathetically. "Or are you home-sick?" When she saw the expression on Spencer's face, it was as though her whole body transformed into one of someone who had just seen a puppy sitting out in the rain. "Oh!! You poor thing!" 

"I'm fine," Spencer assured her. He tried to offer her a smile, but it was a sad excuse for one. It just seemed to make her look more sympathetic, like she wanted to shower him with sugar and hugs. A quick glance around the table showed him most of them looked like that, just a tad bit less dramatic about it. 

"This has been a hard start to the year," Aaron said slowly. Spencer had cast a look in his direction, and saw that it looked as though he was picking his words very wisely. Cautiously. "It's scary enough entering a place like this, but this year..." He trailed off and sighed. "It's gotta be hard." 

"I'm fine." Spencer stood his ground with the issue. He wasn't one to talk about his problems, he'd never actually had a person to talk about them with. Even with his Mom, he hadn't wanted to pile anything else on her. He'd cuddle up beside her, and she'd read to him, but he didn't tell her about his problems, even if she suspected he had some. 

"It's okay not to be," Aaron reminded him gently. "You're just a kid." 

Spencer frowned at him. "I'm only two years younger than you," he pointed out. 

"You're a kid," Derek said plainly. Spencer pouted and glared at him. Derek chuckled in response. "See? Kid."

Spencer's eyes shifted around the table, everyone had been staring at him with concern. It was uncomfortable, and he had begun to squirm in his seat under the scrutiny of their gazes. He'd never had so many people being concerned for him, and it terrified him to a degree. He hadn't a clue how to react to the pressure of it.

"So...." He fought for a subject changer. "Have you thought of what you're going to say to Jennifer, Penelope?" The subject change had sounded like a much smoother transition in his head, but when spoken it came off apprehensive and obvious, which made most of the people at the table roll their eyes at him. 

"Yes, thoroughly. Nothing for you to worry about, my love," she told him. She cast a glance over to Jennifer's table. The girl made Spencer and Derek look well-rested. She had her head resting in her left hand, and was staring at her food with disinterest. Her friends were flocked around her, one rubbed her back while the other talked to her with concern.

"So, Derek," David swiftly changed the subject once again. But he grinned at Derek, almost evilly. "What'd you do?" 

"Snuck out last night for a drink," Derek replied simply. He continued to eat, and ignored the shocked expressions from the rest of the table. Spencer was stiff at his side, and he felt Derek bump his foot. He took it as an order to stay silent on the matter. 

"There are people dying, Derek," Emily grit out. Her voice was hushed, so the people around wouldn't overhear. "You can't sneak out for a drink!" 

"I was out and in," Derek defended mildly. He didn't show any type of concern towards the matter. 

"Oh sweetie," Penelope's voice was laced with sympathy, and Spencer felt Derek stiffen even more beside him. "Was it one of those nights?" She asked cryptically. 

Spencer frowned and looked between the two of them. He'd hated being new, he had no idea what they were talking about half the time, and he was too scared to ask any questions. By the look on Derek's face, he could tell that the boy wasn't in the mood for sharing and caring time, either. So he kept his mouth shut and put his head back down. 

"Don't know what you mean," Derek said. He shoveled some food into his mouth. He hadn't looked hungry in the least, so Spencer assumed it was more of a mix of a distraction and an attempt at dismissal. 

"Your brooding nights," Emily elaborated. Spencer continued to keep his head down, but his eyes still darted around the table with untamed curiosity. Emily caught his eye, and begun to explain, "Derek has these nights when he's mad at the world, and the next morning he's always a total grump with a hangover." 

"So, pretty much nothing has changed," David joked. Aaron and Emily both laughed quietly, while Penelope, Derek, and Spencer just sat there. Penelope looked concerned, Derek looked annoyed, and Spencer just looked confused. 

"Maybe it's seasonal depression," Emily guessed. The whole table, except Spencer, looked at her like she'd grown another head. She opened her mouth to elaborate, but Spencer got a head start,

"Seasonal affective disorder," Spencer declared. His voice was in lecture mode, and most of the table groaned. "It is also known as SAD-." He was cut off by David's 'I wonder why' and Emily's 'Gotta love acronyms'. He simply continued as though they hadn't spoken. "It's a type of depression, but it only occurs during a certain time of year. Primarily, the symptoms start in fall and may continue into the winter months. It takes away your energy and makes you feel moody. The treatments for seasonal affective disorder include-." 

"I get it," Derek cut him off with a glare. "I don't have seasonal...whatever disorder." 

"Season affective disorder," Spencer corrected him. Derek's glare increased in intensity, and Spencer immediately focused back on his food and begun rapidly shoveling it into his mouth. He wished they weren't out of blueberry syrup. He had always eaten french toast with blueberry syrup. It was the perfect mixture. 

"He's right," David agreed. "He's moody all year round." Derek chucked a piece of french toast at David's head. It smacked him in the face, and left a sticky pad of syrup there as it slowly dripped down onto the table. 

"My point has been proven," David said calmly as he picked up a napkin and wiped at his face. 

"I would appreciate it if you didn't toss food in the dining hall." The voice of Erin Strauss had made everyone's heads snap up to look at the woman. Their eyes widened considerably once they did so. Erin Strauss had been looking less put together since the deaths, but she looked an absolute mess that day. Her hair haphazard, her clothes wrinkled, and dark circles prominent underneath her critical eyes. 

"Sorry, ma'am," Derek apologized rather sarcastically. "The food was just so good, that I felt the need to share." 

Erin gave him an unamused stare, her mouth frowned to show her displeasure. Frown lines had begun to surround her mouth, and the little makeup she had on looked smeared. She hadn't looked at all like the prim and proper Erin Strauss that they were accustomed to. "I see that Mr. Rossi has his own plate of food, there is no reason for you to, oh how did you so adequately put it? Share it with him." 

David smiled smugly at Derek, who just glared back at him. "Mr. Rossi, you might want to go to bathroom. The napkin is not getting rid of that syrup. It's just getting caught in it," she quipped one last time as she walked away. David frowned and sped up his movements with the napkin, while the rest of the table cracked up.

"Good God, she looked horrible," Emily observed. She watched as Erin primly sat down at her table and begun to eat her food. The fork in her hand shook. 

"You still want to hit that?" Derek asked David. David looked both ways, and then tossed a piece of french toast at Derek, who caught it midair with a napkin. He grinned at David and ate the piece of it. 

"Delicious," he remarked. 

"Everyone knock it off," Aaron hissed. The whole table sobered up, and leaned into the middle. "We really need to figure this all out," Aaron whisper-informed them.

"I'll talk to Jennifer after soccer practice," Penelope promised them. She eyed Spencer and Derek critically. "While you two little angels get some sleep." 

"Angels, babygirl?" Derek inquired with amusement. "You're going to go that route?" 

"One angel." She nodded towards Spencer. She then licked her lips and looked Derek up and down with appreciation. "One God." She winked.

"Oh, oh come on." Emily groaned and put her head in her hands. "Once you start bringing religion into this, I think we're going too far." 

"Thank God this isn't a religion based school," David agreed. "You two would have been submerged in holy water by this point."

"Of course, the Catholic speaks." Derek snorted. He continued to eat his food, unperturbed. 

"You're Catholic?" Spencer asked David with interest. David nodded.

"Mhm," he hummed. "Was raised in the church." 

"The Catholic church is the largest Christian church, with over 1.2 billion members worldwide," Spencer informed all of them. No one looked interested, not even in the least. But the young genius didn't seem to mind, or really notice. "Catholic tradition holds that-." 

"Spencer," David cut him off. He gave the boy a look. "We all know enough about the Catholic church." 

"What's it like to have all that information up there?" Penelope inquired. She tapped her head, as if Spencer wouldn't get what she spoke of. "Is it like, a million different voices spouting information at you at once?" 

"I like the analogy of a faucet of information that occasionally unwantedly drips." Spencer smiled. He took another large bite of the french toast, as his mood improved, it seemed as though the food had, as well. Since it had no longer seemed to taste like spruced up cardboard.

"Heh sounds about right," David agreed. He eyed Spencer's plate. "You going to eat that turkey sausage or just let it sit there?" 

Penelope whacked him on the arm. "Back off! He needs the protein!" 

Spencer just grinned, stabbed the turkey sausage with a knife, and reached across to drop it on David's plate. The boy grinned at Penelope triumphantly, as he pierced it with his own fork and took a large bite out of it. 

Spencer shook his head, but then he refocused on Derek and frowned.

Something was definitely wrong.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had just left his AP chemistry course, it was officially the start of their free-time. Some of the students were going to practice for their sports, others were off to study, and he was off to the garden. Penelope was off to ambush Jennifer, he'd run into her in the hallway and she had given him a confidant thumbs up.

"You just going to wait for practice to end?" He had asked her at lunch. She said she was going to sit in wait, and then when it was done run straight up to Jennifer. 

'Good luck,' he mouthed out to her as he passed her. She grinned and waved at him. 

"Penelope Garcia, huh?" One kid asked him. Spencer frowned, he had almost walked directly into the boy. He was tall, and hovered over him. His hair a dark jet black, and slicked back with much too much hair gel. His eyes had matched his hair color, and would have frightened Spencer with the intensity if he hadn't already been so used to Aaron's. 

"She's my friend," Spencer replied simply. He went to walk around the boy, his social interactions at school hadn't been plentiful. He had preferred it that way. He'd been beaten up and brutalized at his old school, and so far he hadn't even been hit once. ...Except the odd shoulder, back, and fist hits that he was pretty sure were supposed to be affectionate. 

The boy apparently didn't want to be dismissed so easily, he gripped Spencer's shoulder. "Is she now?" He grinned at him. Spencer didn't like the looks of it. It was a different grin than Derek's signature one. This one had almost seemed more...threatening. "I've heard quite a bit about you," the boy continued. Spencer shifted uncomfortably. Penelope was long gone, as was any other saving grace he could have. "Apparently there's no subject you can't pass." 

Spencer smiled slightly at that. It was always nice to get recognition. "I wouldn't say that," he replied modestly. "But I never have encountered a grade lower than an A. Though, there is probably a subject out there I would be incapable of passing, I'm just yet to find it." 

The boy just shook his head and chuckled politely. "Ah, modesty, while it is the best policy, it should never cause you to discredit yourself," the boy advised. "You need recognition for success, you just have to remember to act humbled when it's brought up to you. But never deny it." 

Spencer just nodded his head slowly. "Good advice," he'd spoken slowly, unsure of what he should say. "But I've got to-." 

"I've also seen you hanging around with the rest of Penelope Garcia's friends," the boy continued. Spencer tried to inch away from him, he wanted to escape the situation entirely. "You know...it's essential for students around here to keep an eye out for one another, you know?" He asked.

Spencer nodded slowly. "I can...um...I can see how that might be important, yes." He looked apprehensively at the other boy. Who stood tall and proud, his clothes ironed to perfection, and his posture perfect. All one would have to do is glance at him for just a mere moment to know that he came from money. 

"I must admit, I, well, not just myself, a few other students, are concerned about the fact that the school has stuck you with the roommates you have," the boy explained. Spencer's eyebrows shot up, they peaked over the rims of his big glasses. "Well...it's just...you're an exceptional student...and the people you hang around with have a bit of a tendency for trouble." 

"I'm doing just fine, thank you for your concern." Spencer attempted to keep his voice calm and polite, but it came across as more brusque and rude. He decided to turn and walk away, his lack of ability to deal with certain social situations was truly coming to bite him. Just the small interaction with someone who acted less than kind had brought much too many unpleasant memories that bubbled to the surface of his mind. 

"Wait!" The voice startled him, as did the hand that clamped down on his arm. He felt trapped, much like how he used to, and he had to force himself to calmly turn towards the boy again. The other boy looked as though he was bordering on regret. "I apologize," he said softly. He was fast to release Spencer's arm from captivity. "I guess the best way to try to make friends with someone isn't to insult their current ones."

"It really isn't," Spencer agreed.

Suddenly, there was a hand thrust in between them. "Liam Lockwood," the boy introduced himself. He said his name with pride, as if it held a world of meaning. Spencer couldn't help but wonder what that felt like, to feel so important. Like your name was made of gold. 

"Spencer Reid," Spencer introduced himself meekly. He looked down at the hand. "I don't shake hands." 

Liam quickly lowered his hand and nodded. "Fair enough. Never much was one for the sentiment, myself. Rather odd, really." 

"The first ever handshake is documented by the monument of Kalhu," Spencer explained to him softly. He shuffled his feet awkwardly as he continued. "Showing the Assyrian king Shalmaneser lll and Marduk-zakir-šumi l of Babylon shaking hands in a public display of Assyro-Babylonian friendship," he continued. "Archaeological ruins and ancient text show that handshaking was practiced in ancient Greece as far back as the 5th century BC. The handshake is thought by some to have originated as a gesture of peace by demonstrating that the hands held no weapon."

"You thinking of taking over our history class?" Liam joked. Spencer smiled in response and shyly shook his head in the negative. "Actually, that's interesting. But then again, so is most history. It's amazing to take a look back, see how far we've come."

"Is it your subject of choice?" Spencer inquired. He still had wanted to get away, but he didn't see the other boy allowing it. 

Liam shook his head in the negative. "Every subject is fascinating, in its own right. I'm incredibly gifted at chemistry, especially." 

"I noticed you were in the class," Spencer told him. He rubbed his arm awkwardly, not quite comfortable. "Do you want to get involved in a field involving it?"

"Unsure yet, I'm afraid," Liam replied. "My Father is a very successful orthopedic surgeon, and I'm rather sure he'd like me to do something similar." Liam smiled at him. It seemed almost drawn on to Spencer. As though it weren't real. "What about you? Would you like to be a lawyer like your Father?" 

Spencer's eyes nearly bugged out of his head like a cartoon character, for the third time that day. He neared certainty that he must have looked comical. "How do you know my Father is a lawyer?" Spencer inquired cautiously. Liam looked at him as though he had grown two heads and started to salsa dance.

"Because your Father is William Reid," Liam answered as though it were obvious. "He's one of the best in the business." 

"Oh," Spencer said dumbly. He didn't quite know how to reply to that. He was used to being told how amazing his Father was by adults, but not his peers. "Um, I'm not really interested in becoming a lawyer." 

"Ah." Liam nodded. "I suppose I can understand that. From what I hear, you could become anything you could ever possibly want." 

"We all can," Spencer stated. Liam looked at him in disbelief. "If everyone tried hard enough, they could be whatever they wanted." 

"Some people have more natural abilities than others," Liam argued. His voice was as sure as it was in everything else he had spoken. It must have been nice, Spencer mused, to have such faith and surety in every word you spoke. Despite being a genius, Spencer had still carried around an abundance of insecurity.

"But that's not a reason to stop chasing your passion," Spencer countered. He hadn't a clue as to why he was heading into the discussion. Why he hadn't thought of yet another excuse to run. "I had an Aunt who was a terrible dancer," Spencer begun the story his Mother had told him about many times. "They said she had no rhythm. But she loved it, so she kept trying. People said it was comical to see her dance, that she fell down constantly, that she had two left feet. But she never gave up, and now? She's dancing in competitions around the world." Liam hadn't seemed half as impressed with the story as Spencer always had been. He'd always enjoyed that particular tale. He was told it whenever he doubted his abilities. 

"Lovely story," Liam's words hadn't sounded sincere at all. He looked almost bored. "Reminds me of the things you read as a child." Spencer frowned at that, the tone made it sound condescending. "I do believe in hard work, but I feel you need talent to complete it." 

"But sometimes hard work shows hidden potential, hidden talent, if you will," Spencer argued back at him. Liam just continued to smile at him. 

"Suppose it does," he agreed. He then gave Spencer a pat on the shoulder. "It was nice to finally talk to you, Spencer. If you would ever like to chat further, just come find me." After Spencer nodded to show he understood, Liam turned to walk away. He paused for a moment and turned back. "Also, be careful," he warned. Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Those "friends" of yours, they can be trouble. David Rossi is the one who spiked the punch the first day, and everyone knows it. Hanging around with bad people can hurt your future." Without waiting for a reply from Spencer, he walked away. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

After the conversation with Liam, Spencer had every intent go back to his room instead of the garden. But his legs had other plans. So he'd decided to see if Mason was out. Sure enough, the man was. He had been planting something. 

"What are you planting?" Spencer asked curiously. Mason gasped and spun to look at him, eyes wide. "I'm sorry!" Spencer apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you-." He was cut off when Mason begun to laugh.

"Don't apologize," the man told him. "I must just be rather easily startled this fine day." He observed Spencer with evident happiness. "It's good to see you again." He gestured to a spot on the ground beside him. Spencer walked over slowly, and knelt so that his knees didn't touch the ground. He hadn't wanted to ruin his clothes. 

"What are you planting?" Spencer repeated his question. He picked up one of the seeds in his palm and looked at it curiously. As though it would grow a pair of lips and tell him what it was. 

"Aster," Mason answered proudly. He took the seed from Spencer, and held it with his own glove covered fingers. "While the rest of the garden fades to the seasonal change, Aster will keep it looking bright and beautiful." He then sighed sadly. "Even if it's only for a little while longer."

"Oh." Spencer nodded his head. He then bit his lip and looked over at Mason hesitantly. "Do you need help?" 

Mason smirked. "That depends." Spencer raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "Are you willing to get dirty?"

Spencer groaned. He then took in a deep breath, and let his knees connect to the ground beneath him. He looked at Mason and responded, "I assume I can change." 

Mason laughed good naturedly and nodded his head in agreement. He then held out another pair of gloves to Spencer. "Fine with me, but if Ms. Strauss catches you filthy, don't expect me to take the fall." 

Spencer laughed and accepted the gloves, he put one on each hand. "I won't." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Working alongside Mason had been pleasantly enjoyable for Spencer. He'd helped with the maintenance of the garden that needed to be done that day, and the whole time Mason explained to him about different types of plants, and his work on the grounds. He talked a lot of the time, and then the rest seemed to be pleasant silence. He hadn't expected Spencer to talk much, and Spencer enjoyed being taught. 

"Heh," Mason said after awhile of him talking. He looked at Spencer, he looked at ease, but surprised. Spencer hadn't known why he was so surprised, but he decided to wait before he asked. "You're a good listener. Not bad at this stuff, either." He gestured towards the garden. "You keep that up, and I might just have you helping me shovel snow in the winter."

Spencer wrinkled his nose. "Don't they have a snow blower?" 

"Oh believe me," Mason begun ruefully. "I've asked. But apparently, I'm their human snowblower. Lovely, isn't it?" He said sarcastically. "They can spend money on all this other stuff they don't need, but they can't buy something that'd actually help the people that work for them." 

"I'm sorry," Spencer said softly. "That's awful." 

"That's what these jobs are about, I guess," Mason said sadly. He took off his gloves and set them on the grass. He then ran a hand through his sweaty hair. He looked exhausted. But then again, everyone had been looking that way. "Hard work, but no pay. You expect if you work for the rich, you get a lot of money. But when you actually work for the rich? You realize how it is they stay rich." 

"My Dad always does leave terrible tips," Spencer responded. "I always have to bring my own money to add to it. I don't think he realizes people basically live off of it." Spencer rolled his eyes. "Then again he never had to," he added the last part ruefully. 

"Ah." Mason nodded in understanding. He sat himself down on the green grass, pretzel style. He took a long chug of the water he had brought out with him. "Your Dad born into the good life?" 

"Yeah." Spencer removed his own gloves and set them on the grass. He sat next to Mason. "I guess you could say I was, too." 

Mason snorted in disbelief. "Sometimes the good life isn't as great as it sounds, kid," Mason said. "You might have been born into a house with cash, but something tells me you weren't born into the good life." 

Spencer frowned at him. He couldn't muster up the energy to be insulted, even though Mason acted as though he knew his life story. "You don't know that for a fact."

"Hell no I don't," Mason agreed. "But I know it from your face." 

Spencer groaned. "People say that like I have a message written on my forehead or something." 

Mason shrugged his shoulders. "Guess you're pretty easy to read," he admitted. 

Spencer was pretty much pouting by that point. "Never was told that before now." He paused for a beat. "Well, not by anyone except my Mom. But she always said how a Mom knows. Kind of took her word for it." 

"Was it your Mom's choice to send you here, or your Dads?" Mason inquired. Spencer was startled by the question, he hadn't expected another inquiry on his personal life. 

"My Dad's," he said honestly. "My Mom would have never allowed for me to be taken this far from her." His voice had begun to crack during the last sentence, Mason noticed it quickly.

"Past tense, huh?" He asked. Spencer didn't reply, didn't have the voice to. "Ah hell, I'm sorry." 

"It's fine," Spencer replied automatically. He'd heard apologies from the small group of people that actually knew of the situation, he was used to the reply. "It's all fine." 

"So," Mason apparently knew what to change the subject. "What do you think of it here?" 

"It's...not what I expected," Spencer answered honestly. He could hear the rumbling of the man's chest beside him, and he grinned himself. "I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but this wasn't it."

"Ah, getting in is the hard part," Mason informed him wisely. "But once you get in? You could commit murder and get away with it." 

Spencer's head snapped up and he turned to look at Mason, mouth and eyes wide. He soon cursed his reaction when he saw Mason look at him with confusion. His mind raced to think of an excuse, but the statement had caught him so off guard. 

"Are you alrigh-." Mason was cut off by a new voice. One that Spencer had grown used to. 

"Spencer!" Derek called out. He was once again covered in sweat, his breathing labored. He looked at Spencer up and down...and then, he laughed. "The hell happened to you?!" 

Spencer realized he must have been a sight. He was always focused on being clean, constantly. He was a classic germaphobe. So the sight of him seated in the grass, his clothes covered in dirt and grass strains, must have been something of a shock. He was pretty sure he even had dirt on his cheeks. He had an inch. 

"Gardening," he answered sheepishly. Derek stuck a hand out to him, and Spencer had given him his wrist so that he could be pulled up. He was pretty sure his rear was covered in grass and dirt, as well. He hadn't thought of the embarrassment that the walk back to the room like that could bring. 

"I can see that." Derek looked him up and down in amusement. "Man, you get pissy with me when I leave my clothes on the floor, and now you're covered in shit." 

Spencer frowned in confusion. "No I'm not." He wondered if Derek didn't quite understand what they were doing. "It's just dirt and grass." 

"I wasn't being literal." Derek sighed in annoyance. He recovered quickly enough to throw an arm around the boy. He cast a glance at Mason. "Hey man, you're breaking him out of his shell." 

Mason inclined his head towards them. "Happy to help," he said. He then smiled softly at Spencer. "Thank you for your company, and your helping hand."

"Thank you for your knowledge and time," Spencer countered. He smiled kindly back at the man and offered him a wave as Derek walked him off. 

Spencer wrinkled his nose in disgust when he breathed in through his nose. "Please put your arm down," he begged. "You smell." 

"I smell?" Derek asked, stunned. "You're covered in dirt!" 

"Yet I still smell better than you," Spencer argued. "That might be a problem." He brought a finger up to plug his nose dramatically. 

"You know what? Just for that." Spencer let out a cry of horror as his face was brought even closer to Derek's armpit. He whacked the man uselessly on his chest. 

"NO! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! YOU SMELL LIKE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS!" He cried out. Derek laughed heartily and released Spencer. The boy inched far away so he could put some distance between them. Derek laughed harder, he looked a lot better than he had that morning. More carefree, and less haunted.

"Seriously, though, man, gardening?" Derek asked him. Spencer glared at him and wrapped his arms around himself. They passed a few people, who looked at him like he was clinically insane, and a few girls giggled. 

"It was fun," he defended sullenly. Derek went to approach him, probably to throw an arm around him again, but Spencer squeaked and put distance between them again. 

"Whatever, man, we both need a shower." Derek shook his head in amusement. "Strauss is going to murder you if she sees you looking like this." 

"Well I plan to very quickly take a shower and change, so hopefully she won't find out," Spencer said. He walked especially fast, he hadn't even thought of getting caught covered in dirt. 

"Those pants are so stained." Derek snickered as he walked at the same rushed pace beside him. "You're so screwed." 

"I can get them out with rubbing alcohol or vinegar...also banana oil and molasses," Spencer informed him. He ignored the weird look Derek gave him. 

"I'd go with the rubbing alcohol," he said slowly. "Probably easiest." 

"Yeah," Spencer agreed. "You're probably right." He then paused and gripped Derek's arm, they were just about to head for the stairs to get to their room. "Hey, by the way." He'd quieted his voice, Derek stared at him in concern. "Are you okay?" 

Derek frowned at him. "Yeah, why?" 

"Because earlier-." Derek cut him off quickly.

"I told you, kid, sometimes I need to just get away," Derek said. His tone showed he was not in the mood for a discussion on the matter, so Spencer let it drop.

"Why did you have to tell them you drinking instead of just telling them the truth?" Spencer inquired. 

"Why? Are you going to tell them the truth?" Derek's voice grew more confrontational, and Spencer automatically shrunk away from him. 

"Of course not!" He cried out. "I just don't get why you would rather them think you snuck out just to get drunk." 

"Technically it's not a lie," Derek admitted. Spencer looked at him, confused. "I got drunk, too. Part of the reason for the bad mood earlier. Hangover is a bitch." 

"Aaron was right about it not being safe, you know," Spencer softly reminded him. Derek huffed in annoyance. "I'm just...I don't want." He kicked his foot on the ground. "I don't want you dead."

Derek stilled. He then smiled a little bit, and rest a hand on Spencer's shoulder. "Hey." Spencer looked up at him. "I don't want you dead, either." He grinned, and Spencer smiled back. "I'll be fine, I promise. Now come on, it might just be me but those stains look like they're multiplying." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had felt immense relief after a shower and a change of clothes. When Aaron had seen himself and Derek walk into the shared room, he'd immediately asked what the hell had happened to them. After the explanation that Spencer had been gardening, the boy had actually laughed. 

When Spencer and Derek re-entered the bedroom, they were greeted by the sight of the rest of their little "group". 

"Ah, there's my man, all sexy and wet." Penelope winked at Derek. Spencer scurried away from the both of them towards his own bed, which he immediately climbed onto. 

"That kid is going to leave here with a complex." David laughed. 

"Penelope how'd your talk with Jennifer go?" Spencer immediately dove right into it. He had not wanted the focus to be on his potential "complex". 

"That's what I was waiting for you lovelies to talk about!" Her chipper voice hadn't matched the troubled expression on her face. She took in a deep breath. "So, I did get a chance to talk to her."

The rest of the room waited, but Penelope didn't continue. "Okkkaayyy," David said. "Then what?" 

"Oh! Right! Well, I started casually talking to her, and she kept inching away because she wanted to shower, but I kept on her. Y'know? Asked about her life, said we need to catch up, that sorta thing," Penelope explained.

"...please tell me you actually asked about Kathryne," David said. 

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Of course I did! I may be blonde, but I am not a dumb blonde," Penelope informed them. "I made small talk, y'know? I just didn't want to dive right into it. But then I asked her how she was doing. Easing into it, that whole thing. Anyway, she started by saying she was fine, but like I said, obvi not a dumb blonde, so I got her to talk a bit more, because I am the mystical magical princess of persuasion." She added a tiny little seated bow. "She told me she's been struggling a tad, since Kathryne was like, her BFF-."

"What's that?" Spencer asked blankly.

"Best friend forever," Penelope explained. "Like we talked about at breakfast, the beautiful world of acronyms." She smiled. 

Spencer just nodded, pretended he understood. 

"Anyway," Penelope continued. "I asked her if she knew Kathryne had medical problems, which we all know she didn't, and Jennifer confirmed that. She said Kathryne was totally healthy, and had no history of any medical complications. No stress, either. In fact, she said Kathryne was totally healthy, totally happy, and everything was going great for her. She just, dropped," Penelope explained.

"Did she think it was weird?" Aaron asked her. 

"That's the interesting part, m'dear." Penelope bit her lip and nervously played with her hair, which she had let down out of her ponytail. "She started to tell me something...strange." Everyone leaned in with interest. "She said it was weird, because before Kathryne...passed...she said something to her."

Aaron looked at her expectantly. "What did she say?" 

Penelope sighed sadly. "That's the part the sucks about all this, my lovelies. All I could get out of her was that Kathryne said something about her drink. She was going to tell me the full thing, but one of her friend said how they needed to hit the showers so they could hang out and blah blah. She never got a chance to finish it." 

The whole room was silent, that was, until David spoke. "Something about her drink, huh?" He looked at Spencer. "You just might have been right, kid." 

"So is this, like, confirmation?" Penelope asked warily. "Are people really getting killed?" 

The room was silent. Aaron was the first to speak. "It's not concrete," he said softly. "We still don't know what she said about her drink, and we still have no proof that anything was put in it." 

"You don't have to be Nancy Drew to put all this together." David sighed. He rubbed his temples with his fingers, his eyes closed. "What the hell does this even mean? That one person is going to die per-week? That's insane." 

"Maybe." Aaron released a long breath and shrugged. "Or maybe not. So far, two kids have died exactly a week apart. Could be a pattern, could be anything. I'd think one kid a week would end up being pretty obvious at some point." 

"Please." David snorted. "The whole student population could drop dead at once and they'd find some way to cover it up." 

"What?" Derek asked cynically. "No faith in your girlfriend?" 

"Go screw yourself, man," David snapped back at him and picked a pillow up off the floor to throw up at Derek, who was seated on his bed. The boy caught the pillow immediately, and threw it back at him. The soft plush of the pillow hit David in the face, a light smack was heard, and David's face grew more angry.

"Both of you two, calm down," Aaron snapped at them. "This is more important than your petty arguments. This could be life or death, and we've got to be careful."

"What do we do?" Penelope asked with despair. She cradled her head in her hands. Derek sat up in bed and leaned over the edge, he looked as though he was about to make an attempt to comfort her. "We're stuck in between a rock and a hard place...and we're just little ants that are going to get crushed." 

"We're not ants," Emily replied as she rolled her eyes. "We're also not going to get crushed. We'll figure something out." 

"Like what?" David inquired. "If students are being killed we have next to no proof. People tend to believe official medical reports more than students. Just a flaw in our society." The last part dripped sarcasm. 

"But the reports are wrong," Penelope countered.

"Do we have any type of proof on that?" David asked. "Besides our assumptions? Because last time I checked no one gives a shit about assumptions." 

Everyone hung their heads, they all knew the answer to the question, and they all knew that at the moment they were utterly helpless. 

"So what?" Emily sighed. "What do we do?" 

"We get proof," Aaron replied, determined. "We get concrete proof so good that we nail the school with it." 

"How are we going to do that?" Derek asked. 

Aaron shrugged. "We'll find a way." He looked around the room at all the different faces that surrounded him. "Together."

"Hell yeah we will," Emily agreed. She smiled and bumped her shoulder into David, as though to try to cheer him up. 

"Hands in!" Penelope declared. Everyone groaned as her hand was thrust into the middle of the room. 

"This is a very serious situation-."

"Hands. In," she ground out forcefully. Emily, Aaron, Derek, and David had all begrudgingly put their hands on top of hers. She looked across the room at Spencer. Who was seated on his bed. Hair still wet, it hung in his eyes, dripped down his face, and his shirt was slightly soaked through. His mouth was turned down in thought. "Spencer?" She asked worriedly. All eyes were on him, they wondered if the youngest would back out. 

"But you're all the way over there," he whined. The whole room cracked up.

"Get your skinny ass over here!" Derek yelled at him, still in the midst of his laughter. Spencer pouted, stood up, and trotted over. He stuck his hand on top of Derek's, lips still pulled in a pout. 

"1...2...3...TO THE MISFITS!" 

"TO THE MISFITS!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories haunt the mind, and a suspect reveals themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There's some pretty graphic/gory descriptions in this chapter! I just want to warn you guys, it's edging on more mature content for the first few paragraphs.

Spencer had been plunged into darkness. He couldn't see a thing around him, yet he could feel the walls as they begun to close in on him. The air started to grow thin, the space felt more heated, he felt panicked, and the insane and rapid beat of his heart echoed in the dark space. He screamed for help, begged, just for someone to come and rescue him. To save him before the walls could crush him. His hands had grown sticky, slicked with something warm and thick, he could hear it drip onto the concrete floor beneath his feet. Could feel the gooey consistency slip between the gaps of his fingers. Spencer couldn't see it, but he could smell it. He could smell the foul, metallic, scent of blood in the air. He'd felt his brain go dizzy. No! What was wrong with him? Why could he not focus?! Suddenly there were voices all around him, they called his name. Their voices a mere whisper, and his name bounced off of the closing walls as they snuck closer and closer to him. No! He was crazy! He was going crazy! The blood poured from his hands like a fountain, it was as though his palms secreted it. The calling got louder as he pleaded for it to stop. His voice had gone weak and desperate. He had to get out! He had to get out! The walls were about to touch his skin...

"SPENCER!" His eyes snapped open, and he lunged upwards. His whole body was slick, but not with blood, with sweat. He was hyperventilating, his heart pounded so hard in his body he felt as though it was going to burst from his chest. It took him a moment to register the hands that rest on his shoulders and lower back. 

"It's alright, kid," a voice soothed him softly. He could barely hear it over the thundering pound of his heart. Why wouldn't his heartbeat slow down? He wanted it to go back to normal. He'd also wanted to remember how to properly breathe. "Just calm down. Breathe, Spencer, you're not breathing," the mysterious voice pleaded with him. 

"Spencer, it was just a dream. You're in bed, you're safe," the other voice assured him. The hand on his back rubbed soothing circles. The contact somehow managed to be both jarring and reassuring. 

Spencer had been about to attempt a response, was about to try to truly see who it was being so kind to him, but all of a sudden images took over his mind. Horrible images of Kathryne. Her empty eyes, her body as it twitched and seizured on the freshly cut grass. Kathryne as her body stopped the twitching, ceased all movement, as she rest stiff and dead on the ground. Suddenly he'd felt the sting of bile as it crawled up his throat, it burned so terribly, and his stomach clenched in despair. 

"He's gonna be sick," one of the voices warned with panic. Suddenly, something had been thrust in front of Spencer's face, and that was all the invitation he needed to start heaving. 

"Oh, that's nasty," one of the voices complained. A hand still continued to rub his back gently as he retched. 

That morning marked it as officially two weeks. Officially two weeks since he'd seen the body of Kathryne on the ground, lifeless. Nothing much had happened since their talk in the bedroom. Their commitment to get concrete evidence. They had been busy with classes, and any attempt made by Penelope to get in touch with Jennifer had been futile. 

As the thoughts clouded his mind he felt himself start to heave again. He heaved, and he heaved, until it seemed as though there was nothing left in his stomach. 

"Sorry," was the first word he had managed to gasp out. He looked up, realized it was Derek and Aaron who had surrounded him. Aaron's hand on his back, while Derek held a trash bin under Spencer's mouth, it was filled with the disgusting undigested contents of his stomach. Derek looked pretty ill, himself. But Spencer assumed that was more due to him having to hold the vomit bin.

"Don't worry about it." Derek's nose was wrinkled with disgust, and he practically had to choke out his words. "We can..wash it...or y'know, get a new one." 

Spencer lowered his head in shame, and brought his arms up to wrap around his stomach. Derek moved the trash bin away from his mouth, and set it across the room. He'd still looked disgusted. There was a light on, he assumed one of them had flicked it on when they'd heard him. It was a small little relief to see it illuminate the room.

The dream of the blood that coated his hands, and the walls that closed in on him came back with a force. He was sure he'd have been sick if he'd had anything else in his stomach. Instead his breathing resumed its erratic rate, as did his heartbeat.

"Spencer," Aaron's voice had been firm, but not unkind. "You need to calm down. You're going to pass out." 

"Two weeks," Spencer stuttered out in between his erratic breathing. Both Aaron and Derek's faces softened even more so. 

"We know, kid." Derek hesitantly raised his hand to Spencer's shoulder. He looked the boy in the eyes and attempted to give him a reassuring smile. "It's going to be okay."

"No it's not," Spencer disagreed miserably. He'd only been at that school two weeks, and it felt as though he'd been there for years. Not in a good way. 

"Yes it is," Derek argued. He rubbed Spencer's shoulder while Aaron continued to rub his back. Spencer couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the fact that his shirt was soaked through with sweat, he knew they both could see it. "Look, if three kids die exactly a week apart at the same boarding school then maybe the police will actually pay attention."

"Not if all rulings are accidental or natural," Spencer shot back. His head hung, hair obstructed his vision. All he could feel was the blood that coated his hands, he could still hear the dripping noise as it smacked into the ground. Was it her blood that coated them? Could he have done something? Saved her? Stopped it?

"We'll work something out," Aaron assured him. "But you need to get some more sleep. I know it's scary, but we're both here. We'll protect you." 

"Yeah, man," Derek agreed instantly. He gently pushed down on Spencer's shoulder, and Aaron released his back. Spencer was pushed down until his back hit the bed. He looked back up at the two boys anxiously. "Just calm down, it'll all be okay."

"I...um...I think I'll just stay up." Spencer tried to force himself back up into a seated position, but the hands were still holding him down. Gentle, but firm. He knew they wouldn't budge.

"Just go back to bed, Spencer," Aaron said. "You've barely been asleep three hours." 

"That's more than I usually get," Spencer argued. He then, much to his displeasure, broke out into a loud yawn. He heard the sound of Morgan breathing oddly, which meant he was holding back laughter. Spencer tried not to resent him for it.

"Just sleep, Spencer." Spencer had finally been awake enough to hear the tiredness that leaked out with Aaron's voice. "We'll stay up until you do." 

"Don't hafta," Spencer said as his eyelids started to suddenly increase in weight. It was so odd to him how he suddenly couldn't seem to keep them open. "Yew can go backta bed," he slurred. 

"Think we will be soon, pretty boy," Derek replied in amusement. 

It was the last thing Spencer heard before his world faded to black.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer awoke later to the sound of an alarm, it was shrill and high in volume. It amazed him how he'd sometimes managed to sleep through it. He whined and threw his pillow atop of his head, a futile attempt to block out the noise that felt as though it could render him deaf. 

"Come on, pretty boy," Derek's voice was much too close for his liking, and soon the boy was shaking him. "Up we go." Spencer shook his head into his pillow to show his refusal. He then could only manage a panicked squeak as he was literally lifted from his bed and placed on the ground. Blankets still around his shoulder, and pillow still held to his head. His knees shook, as he wanted so badly to just collapse onto the ground. 

"I didn't take you literally," Spencer groused. He dropped the pillow to the ground, and crossed his arms over his chest...the blanket promptly dropped to his feet, as well. It made a funny little puddle around them.

"Yeah, well, I don't bluff," Derek replied. He picked Spencer's blanket and pillow off the ground and tossed it over to his bed. He eyed the young genius warily. "How are you feeling?"

Spencer frowned in confusion, not able to understand what Derek meant. Then, suddenly, the scene he'd caused in the middle of the night came back to him, hit him on the chest like a ton of bricks. He felt his face flush in humiliation; he couldn't believe he'd thrown up in front of them! Spencer usually had a strong stomach, he'd been able to nearly pride himself on the fact. 

"I'm so sorry!" He apologized.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I may never be able to look at that trash bin the same way again, but it's all good." Derek smiled at him and clapped him on the back. Spencer had to catch himself before he tumbled to the ground.

After he'd recovered, Spencer gave a timid, shy, smile back and went to grab a change of clothes for after his shower. He felt as though he had years of dirt and grime caked on his skin. The shower seemed as though it were the perfect solution. The perfect way to let all his problems wash down the drain.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Penelope asked him at breakfast. He'd still looked awful, and his stomach was in knots. Just the sight of his food made him remember puking his guts out in the middle of the night. "You look awful!" 

"He had a reaction to something he ate," Derek lied smoothly. Spencer smiled at him thankfully. He hadn't wanted them talking about his nightmares over breakfast...or at all.

"Oh, you poor thing," Penelope cooed softly. Her eyes large with sympathy and pity. 

"The food here can be shit," Emily said. "You should tell them their dinner made you physically ill." 

"It was probably my fault." Spencer shrugged. "I'm mildly lactose intolerant, I guess I had too much." 

"Oh! That explains why you never have the ice cream!" Penelope then frowned. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Give him a rest," Derek said. "He's only been here for what? Two weeks?" He cut up his omelet, and frowned at the insides of it. It didn't look like his was fully cooked, the white part leaked a bit too much. He then shrugged, and ate it anyway.

"Aren't allergies supposed to be the first thing you learn about a person?" David inquired. He looked at Derek's omelet with distaste. Derek just continued to shovel it into his mouth. "Also, dude, that's nasty. I would get another."

"I've drank raw egg before," Derek replied. "I'll be fine." 

"Yeah, hey, I bet that's what Spencer thought when he ate his lactose." Emily's smile had held mockery in it. 

Spencer scowled at her. "Can we please not talk about how I got sick? I'd prefer to forget it." The mention of his humiliating moment linked together with the memories of his nightmare. Memories he would have loved to bury deep and lock into the darkest, deepest, cell of his mind. 

"Poor thing." Penelope then proceeded to shove her hand down her shirt. Everyone at the table's eyes widened, and eyebrows shot up in surprise. Penelope then lifted her hand, and revealed a little pill case that she had tugged out of her bra. She snapped it open, and pulled out two giant pills. "It's Tums!" She proclaimed cheerfully. 

"I...um...I think I'm good," Spencer stuttered out. Derek was beside him, his whole body shook with barely concealed laughter. Emily had her mouth hidden behind her hand, David just continued to stare at her, and Aaron looked distracted. As though he wasn't really with them.

"They're not dirty," Penelope told him with slight annoyance. "They were in a container in my bra." 

Spencer reluctantly took the two Tums from her fingers and quickly shoved them in his mouth, before he could truly think it through. He rapidly chewed and swallowed them as the minty taste overtook his mouth, it replaced the taste of his cinnamon toothpaste. Derek gave him a few pats on the back. 

"Congratulations, kid. You've officially eaten something from in between a girl's-." 

"If you continue that, I might just have to throw my drink in your face," Emily warned him. Emily held up her drink, to show that she was serious. Derek just smirked and tossed his arm over Spencer's shoulder.

"Is no one going to talk about the obvious?" David asked them. That even drew Aaron's attention in. "Today marks it as officially two weeks." 

"Everything looks fine," Emily said as she looked around the dining hall. "At least, so far." 

"I'm not so sure about that," Aaron replied. They all looked at him, and he leaned in. "Weren't Derek, Spencer and I late?" 

"Yeah..." David said slowly. "What else is new?" 

"Strauss has been late lately...but this is really late," Aaron observed. His eyes darted around the dining hall. Scanned every crevice of it. 

"Yeah, well, here she comes..." David pointed behind Aaron, Derek, and Spencer. They all turned to look at Erin Strauss as she entered the dining hall. She seemed to have been getting worse by the day. She looked horrific, her long confident stride remained intact, but her head was held down, and her hands shook and were wrung together anxiously. She paused in the middle of the dining hall and cleared her throat. 

"If I can have everyone's attention," Erin called out into the room calmly. Everyone stilled their talking, and turned to look at the voice of authority. She smiled stiffly, it held no warmth or happiness. "I'm afraid to announce that any sports practice will be called off this week-." 

"THE WHOLE WEEK?!" One of the male students cried out in horror. Derek and David looked in a similar state. 

Erin's head snapped towards him, her eyes narrowed and deadly. "One more word out of anyone who hasn't raised their hand will lead you to be grounded to your room for the rest of the week, as well," she bellowed. "Now," Erin continued once all the kids looked properly terrified. "No practice of sports of any kind this week. You may spend the time studying, or you can get permission to go shopping, or...something." She looked around the room, and Spencer could have sworn he saw her eyes flash with fear. "Be safe." With that, Erin walked over to grab her breakfast.

The whole dining hall seemed stunned. The room was so quiet that if a pin were to drop everyone would have heard it, and a cricket's chirp would have made them all flinch. Spencer's own table had been especially silent, most of them had their mouths hanging wide open.

"Okay," David was the first to choke out his words. He swallowed heavily. "Well, if we didn't think something was wrong before..."

"What the hell is she thinking?" Emily whisper yelled. "That cancelling practice is going to save the kids?" 

"Maybe she knows it will," Aaron pondered. Everyone continued to stare at him expectantly. "Maybe this is some kind of deal, an appeasement technique?" 

"So Strauss knows something's going on yet she still won't go to the police," Emily snarled and shook her head, her face showed her disgust. "How typical." 

"Maybe whoever this is might be threatening Strauss?" David suggested. 

"It's possible," Spencer said thoughtfully. "Whoever it was would have at least had to have had contact with Strauss to tell her to do this. If it's anonymous, maybe she got a letter?" 

"What the hell kind of motive is it to cancel sports practice?" Derek inquired. "Someone who really friggin' hates sports?"

"Whoever it is, they're probably female, right?" David asked. "I read poison is typically used by females?"

"False," Spencer replied immediately. Everyone stared at him. "Majority of convicted prisoners are men, especially when the victim is a woman. When the victim is a man, it's equally likely to be either a man or a woman."

"Well that's unhelpful," David said. "Both of the potential victims were a man and a woman. The hell does that tell us?" 

"That whoever it is isn't afraid to cross gender lines," Emily suggested. "Male or female doesn't matter." 

"But whether or not they play sports seems to," Derek pointed out. He then eyed David. "Which is very unlucky for us." 

"Oh my god," Penelope gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes grew wide and wet. "You guys have to quit."

"What?!" David asked. "I'm not going to quit!" 

"It's for your safety!" Penelope argued. "I-I can't have either of you-." She was cut off by a quiet sob that broke through her lips. 

"Hey, hey," Derek soothed. He looked around the dining hall to make sure nobody noticed them. He reached a hand across the table and grabbed Penelope's free one. "Babygirl, it's going to be okay. We're going to be okay. Being in sports could have its benefits." 

"Inside information," Emily said. "With a keen eye you'd notice things before anyone else." 

"Exactly," Derek agreed. "We can't quit." 

"Why is this even our job?" Penelope asked in despair. "We're kids. We should go to the police if we think something is wrong."

"Yeah." David rolled his eyes. "That'd go well. Hey, cops, we think there's a serial murderer at our boarding school. Why do we think that? Oh. Because two kids died exactly a week apart. One was ruled as natural, and the other was an overdose. No! Of course that's not our only reason! Sports practice was just cancelled for a week!" He gave them all a look. "That would not go well."

"Well, nothing sounds good if you explain it like that," Penelope responded sullenly. 

"None of this sounds good," Emily stated. She looked around the dining hall. "So what? We're going to crack this case?" 

Spencer just sat, looked into space, Penelope was the first to notice it.

"Oh, sweetie!" She instantly forgot about her own terror and looked at Spencer worriedly. "You must be so scared." 

"I've only been here two weeks and I'm already involved in a murder case," he said glumly. 

David chuckled and lifted his glass in an invisible toast. "Welcome to boarding school."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"I don't know what to do with myself," Derek complained. He, Spencer, and David were walking down the school halls. Spencer's AP chemistry had ended, and the other two boys had caught up with him quickly. 

"Go do a few laps around the school," David suggested. "I'll watch and take pictures." 

"Or you could run with me and we could see who goes down first. Hint: It won't be me," Derek shot back. David narrowed his eyes at him, but they had too much of a playful shine to them to truly be threatening. 

"There are the three stooges," Emily's voice was heard, and the brunette jogged up to them. Spencer frowned up at her. She winced. "Sorry, Spencer, you're not a stooge." She ruffled his hair. He continued to frown. Emily just shrugged and looked at David and Derek. "Penelope, Aaron, and I decided maybe we should take the shuttle out. Maybe pick up some snacks, or do...I don't know, something." 

"You mean actually get out of here?" David inquired. He smiled. "Sounds awesome." 

"Should we really be going?" Spencer asked nervously. His arms were hugged around himself, and his foot tapped up against the ground in a nervous, out of beat rhythm. Spencer was scared. The fact that the rest of the group maintained the ability to joke around while faced with serious danger never ceased to amaze him. He felt as though he were falling apart. 

Emily walked closely to him and whispered, "It might be a good idea to talk where no one around here could hear us." 

Spencer nodded his understanding. Just as they were about to walk away, another voice interrupted them. 

"Spencer." Spencer's whole body froze. It was Liam. "Hello, again," the boy greeted him pleasantly. 

Spencer forced a polite smile on his face. The boy was not someone whose company he had enjoyed. But time had showed him not to be too picky about who showed him kindness. Just to accept it. 

"Hi, Liam," he greeted with much more enthusiasm than he felt. "How are you?" 

"Great," he replied. Spencer expected him to acknowledge the others, but Liam made no move to. He just focused on Spencer. "Some friends of mine decided we should go and see a movie. I've got permission to do so, I wanted to know if you might want to come." 

"He can't," Emily cut in before Spencer had the chance to speak. One glance up at the brunette and he caught the intensity in her eyes as she stared at Liam. Dislike was one of the most easily identifiable emotions within them. "He's going with us to get some snacks." 

"With all do respect, Emily, I don't recall asking you," Liam said with a fake smile. It was one of the things that threw Spencer off the most about the boy. His emotions were always fake, seemingly planned. He had a mask to fit every situation. 

"Actually, she's right," Spencer intersected. "I already had plans with them." 

Liam frowned for a moment, but quickly recovered so that his facial expression was neutral. "Ah, well, that's alright," he hadn't sounded alright at all, he sounded annoyed. He offered a smile even faker than all his others. "Maybe some other time." 

Spencer nodded his head, smiled tightly, and went to walk away. He was prepared for that to be the end, but Liam had other plans.

"Perhaps you can sit with me and my friends for dinner," he'd offered. Spencer's whole body stiffened, and he saw Emily practically snarl out of the corner of his eye. "I think you'd find the conversation very interesting." 

"He sits with us for dinner," Emily snapped at him. She tossed an arm around Spencer's shoulder, something that normally only Derek had the lack of knowledge, or caring, on personal space to do. 

"So, you guys just own him 24/7?" Liam inquired. 

"Yep, looks like," David cut in. He gave Liam a cynical smile and put a hand on Emily's back. "We should get going," he told her. 

"I don't necessarily think that fair," Liam said, he had turned abrasive. "I think I can offer him a seat at my table, and allow him to answer for himself." 

"Fine," Emily looked at him. "Spencer?" 

"I...uh...I'm going to sit with them for dinner, please," he stuttered out. He realized as soon as the words had left his mouth how stupid the "please" had sounded. 

Liam's smile was tight, controlled, his eyes had a flame lit behind them. The boy actually frightened Spencer. "Very well," he said as he approached him. Spencer shrunk into Emily slightly, and he saw Derek and David take a step forward. But all Liam did was pat him on the shoulder. "Maybe tomorrow," he offered. Spencer gave a small smile and a tiny nod. Not of agreement, almost more of dismissal. Liam eyed the rest of the friends critically and spoke primly, "Have a nice day, you three. Derek, I hope the football game next week doesn't suffer too much because of this." 

Derek narrowed his eyes at him and snarled slightly, which seemed to brighten up Liam's mood a little. "See you all later!" With a small little wave, he was gone. 

"When did you start talking to Liam Lockwood?" Emily hissed at him as soon as he was out of earshot. 

"He just started talking to me on Friday! I didn't think too much of it..." The last part was partial lie, the whole conversation had agitated Spencer. 

"He sure seemed smug that practice was cancelled," David observed wisely. His voice had knowledge and suspicion laced within it. Derek's eyes widened, and Emily's mouth opened in surprise. 

"You don't think..." Emily trailed off. 

"Just saying, I think it's odd." 

"Liam's always hated sports," Derek said to Spencer as they all walked down the halls. "Ever since he's been here he's talked of how the "brutes" have made the school fall from its former glory." 

"He...uh...said some stuff that was weird about you guys," Spencer told them shyly. They watched him intently, and silently urged him to go on. Spencer was unsure whether or not he should share the piece of information. Was it rude to tell friends about mean things others said about them? "He said he was worried about me and that you all had a tendency for trouble," he rushed out. His voice had been hushed, and his words had run together, he was surprised that the others even heard it.

"Ah, well, the tendency for trouble part isn't exactly untrue," David replied with a slightly amused expression. "But, to be fair, Lockwood is biased." 

"Why is he biased?" Spencer asked. 

"Let's just say we haven't gotten along and leave it at that, kid." Derek reached over and ruffled his hair, much like Emily had. Spencer let out a squawk of indignance and glared at him. Deep down he was a little hurt, because he knew the reason they weren't telling him was because they hadn't known him long enough. Derek had trusted a lot in him with the fort, and with his silence on the subject, but beyond that the others were still a tad shaky on certain details. Like how almost none of them spoke of life beyond school. Especially Derek. Spencer hadn't a clue who his family was, or what they did. Not even if Derek had siblings. 

"Ah, he's right, we don't want to bother you with boring stories," David agreed. "Just take our word for it and don't hang around him. He might be a golden boy, but he's not a nice guy." 

"Just trust us," Emily continued on. "We're looking out for you." 

"You can all be rather cryptic to an almost frightening level," Spencer informed them all. They all laughed. 

"Eh, you'll get used to it," David said. "Or you'll stick around enough to learn our deepest darkest secrets." He had said the last part with a perfect impression of an old horror movie narrator, it made Spencer laugh in delight. 

Spencer looked just in time to see that Derek wasn't at all amused by what David said, and almost seemed to have once again travelled into his own universe. Spencer reached over, and begun pulling the lint off of his school jacket. The action had brought Derek back to reality enough to stare at him in bewilderment.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Emily's arm was still draped over Spencer's shoulder, and it was extended so that Spencer could pick the lint while they walked. 

"Haven't you ever heard of a lint roller?" Spencer asked with disgust. "You're a mess!" 

"Of all the things that have happened in the mere two weeks since you've been here and your main concern is the state of my jacket?" Derek asked in disbelief. 

"You can get some for only five dollars!" Spencer continued with his lint roller argument. "You're getting one when we go out for snacks." 

"He's bossing me around now," Derek announced. David and Emily had both been watching the scene with amusement. "We've reached the point where he now feels comfortable bossing me around." 

"You have told me we're at the point in our friendship where it is okay for you to consistently tease me," Spencer reminded him. "Thus, we have reached the point where it is okay for me to force you to at least look decent while doing it." 

"You're giving me advice on how to look good?!" Derek asked, appalled. David and Emily had begun to lose the fight against their laughter. 

"No, I'm giving you advice on how to look presentable. Two totally different things, but they pair together nicely," Spencer said. 

Derek looked at the others and gestured to Spencer in disbelief.

"He's right, Derek." David was holding back a stream of laughter, it was obvious. "You're a mess." 

Spencer spun his head around, narrowed his eyes at David judgmentally and told him, "You're next."

David's eyes widened, Derek chuckled, and Emily finally let out a loud laugh. They caught up to the others, and filed into the van. Spencer sat behind Derek, and took that as a chance to pick the lint off of his shoulders and upper back. 

"Do I want to know why he's getting all handsy with my man candy?" Penelope inquired of Emily. 

"Lint," Derek replied sullenly. "He's picking the lint off of me." 

"Well, someone had to." Penelope shrugged. Derek looked at her in shock. "What?! A lint roller only costs like, four bucks!" 

"Thank you!" Spencer cried out, validated.

"After two weeks I feel the need to officially declare that Spencer." David rest a hand on Spencer's shoulder. "You fit right in here." 

He'd said the words with infinite humor, and Spencer was pretty sure they weren't supposed to mean anything...but they had. He'd never fit in anywhere in his entire life. It was an odd little group they all had, but perhaps that was the reason that he found he fit in so well. None of them were exactly "normal", but they all fit together like pieces of a puzzle. 

"Do they have pita chips?!" Penelope asked with excitement. 

"We're going to a supermarket, aren't we?" Emily inquired. "They should have everything." 

"Including lint rollers."

"Shut up about the lint rollers!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is established, a person in their sights, and trust is further established.

The next five days that had passed were not easy on any members of their small group. Derek, Emily, Spencer and David had shared their concerns on Liam with Aaron and Penelope. Penelope did a basic background check on him, but there wasn't much that Liam hadn't already bragged about. She couldn't find any connection between him and the two supposed victims. Liam had never shown them any deep distrust or dislike than he'd shown anyone else. 

Not only that, but Derek had gotten increasingly irritable throughout the five day break of football. Spencer had begun to realize that quite possibly tackling other people to obtain the object of a ball was a powerful stress release for the boy. Without it? He had been incredibly moody to the point where most of the group stopped attempting to hold a conversation with him. He'd gotten a bad test score and nearly put his fist through their dorm wall. 

"This happens often," Aaron told him after it had happened. Luckily, Derek had held his rage back enough that it only sounded like a boulder was smashed into their room. 

He was surprised with how much David messed with Derek that Derek hadn't punched the boy's head clean off of his shoulders. Penelope wasn't lying when she said Derek's muscles looked like they had been chiseled onto his body, Spencer had walked in on the boy doing push ups. 

It was the weekend, which meant that, with the school's approval, they could practically do what they wanted. They could go shopping, see a movie, go somewhere to hang out, anything. Since the weather was still nice, they were scheduled to have a barbecue for dinner. 

"I've never had barbecue that wasn't from a restaurant before," Spencer told them at breakfast. 

"Heh, your dad never busted out the grill?" Derek asked him, his mood seemed to have brightened somewhat that morning. He'd joked around with Penelope, who always managed to lighten up his mood. That was the good thing about Penelope, she seemed to bring light and bright shining colors wherever she went. 

Spencer's facial expression darkened, and he tightened his hand around his fork, the formerly cold metal grew warm in his grasp. It was odd, since he'd been at boarding school it was almost as though his feelings for his Father had grown impossibly worse. "No," he said stiffly. 

"No great big family barbecues?" David continued to pry. Spencer drummed his fingers against the table anxiously, he hated to talk about anything that concerned his personal life. 

"No." He used the same one-word answer, the same stiff tone, and the same thin lipped, bitter eyed expression. 

"Me either," Emily said, and she gave Spencer a meaningful look, as though she knew he was trying to escape the inquiries. Spencer looked at her gratefully. "My family is kind of scattered."

"Every barbecue tastes bad to me," Derek said. "I had the most amazing homemade barbecue when I was younger." He had looked slightly wistful, but kept his head down, so that no one could see his face too well.

"Did your Dad grill a lot?" Spencer asked innocently. He hadn't meant any harm with it, he was just parroting the question Derek had asked him earlier. But he immediatly realized the error to his ways when the whole attitude at the table switched immediately. Penelope even stopped mid-bite and looked at him with wide eyes, she shook her head slightly, as though he could take it back. Derek's whole body had stiffened, and when he looked up at Spencer all he could see in his eyes was anger. "Or-uh-..." Spencer hadn't a clue how to fix it. The damage had been done. 

"So, this is it, huh?" Derek asked with acrimony. "Known me almost three weeks so you think you can now dig? I never ask about your Mom, Spencer." Spencer's mouth popped open in shock, but he quickly felt his own eyes narrow, his heart pound in chest. 

"Give him a break, Derek," David cut in quickly. "He was just curious." 

Spencer recovered from his own anger at having his Mother brought up simply because he made an inquiry. Deep down, he knew his question must have thrown Derek off badly if the boy had felt the need to bring it up. "I really didn't mean anything by it," he begun cautiously. "I was just curious. I didn't think it to be a problem." 

"For someone who thinks a lot," Derek begun, his voice still thick with anger. "You should have put a bit more thought into it."

"Jesus, Derek," Emily cried out at him. "He asked if your Father barbecued, not for an auto-biography." 

"I won't do it again," Spencer promised in a squeaky voice. The anger in Derek's eyes had truly begun to frighten him. A man more than twice his size that stared at him with that look commonly only ended in one result, and he had yet to experience the result in boarding school...yet. "I was just curious to the origins in which your barbecue story took place. I was also repeating a similar question that you had asked me prior, it was what automatically came to mind when you brought it up. I apologize."

Derek rolled his eyes and went back to eating, but Spencer could see his face slightly soften. An uncomfortable silence covered the span of the table, that was, until Penelope hit Derek in the arm. The loud smack echoed quite a bit, and a few people turned to look at the source. "Don't be a grump! Forgive him! Now!" She demanded. Derek stared at her with wide eyes. "Now!" 

"You're forgiven..." Derek said slowly. His eyes were still on Penelope. Who narrowed them more. Derek rolled his eyes, the corner of his mouth kicked up and he faced Spencer. "You're forgiven, kid. Just some things a person doesn't want to talk about. My life outside of school is one of 'em." 

"Understood," Spencer said. He looked around the dining hall warily. "Is anyone else worried that it's two more days until it's three weeks?" 

"Terrified," Penelope answered with earnesty. She looked around the dining hall. "Strauss isn't here today, either. Cruz and Gideon are overseeing everything."

"I almost have a feeling Gideon doesn't like me..." David joked as he looked at the teacher's table. Jason seemed to every once and awhile cast a glance toward the table, his gaze especially landed on David. "Either that or he's madly in love with me." 

"I like him," Spencer stated. The whole table looked at him in shock, Spencer frowned. "What? He's a good teacher." 

"He's a pain in the ass," David responded. "He doesn't even answer some of our questions in class. He always says that 'we need to learn to answer these questions ourselves'. He's a teacher," David complained. 

"He'll answer technical questions that will enhance our learning capabilities," Spencer explained. "But certain questions he feels are ones that we need to discover ourselves and share our answers with him. I stay after his class sometimes telling him what I thought of certain ones." 

"Kiss ass," Emily joked. Spencer frowned at her, and David laughed. 

"Hi Jennifer!" The words from Penelope cut off any reply or comeback Spencer had planned to make. The whole table looked to where Jennifer stood next to their table. She was particularly late to breakfast that morning, it was nearing the halfway done point. She also looked drained, as though her entire body was running on autopilot. Even the smile she gave back to Penelope was strained, as though she had to use great force for her facial muscles to move. 

"Hey," she replied. She was about to say something else, but cut herself off with a loud yawn that she rushed a hand to her face to cover. "How're you?" She asked afterwards. 

"Good!" Penelope replied eagerly. "Do you want to sit with us?" She cast a glance to an empty spot on the table, one on the other side of Spencer. Jennifer's eyes followed, and Spencer gave her a timid smile. 

"Uh-I don't-." They were cut off by a girl from Jennifer's table who was whisper-yelling her name and gesturing wildly to the seat beside her. Her mouth was turned down and she was glaring at the group as though they were committing a criminal offence. 

Jennifer smiled regretfully at them. "Maybe another time," she answered, she had already begun to walk away, and Penelope's entire being deflated. It was actually a heartbreaking sight to witness. Penelope was always so full of life, but every time Jennifer was too busy to chat it was like someone let the air out of her and she just crumbled. 

"She's just busy," Spencer assured her softly. Penelope looked at him through the lens of her glasses, her eyes large and sad. The rest of the table just seemed resigned to it all. "I'm sure she'll be free at some point and you two can hang out again." He wasn't quite sure if his words were factual, and he almost regretted them after he'd said them, but the little spark of hope had come back to Penelope's eyes, so he assumed that even if it were a lie, that it was one of the justifiable kind. Penelope was one of those people who had to have the hope in her protected at all costs. 

"I'd still like to know exactly what Kathryne said before she dropped," Emily muttered. 

"Okay, can we please, pretty please, not use the word dropped?" Penelope pleaded. Emily looked at her in confusion, and Penelope continued, "It just sounds so awful."

"I'm sorry, is the word "died" much nicer? Or "seizured"?" Emily inquired dryly. 

Penelope let out a little whimper, obviously the images had come to her mind in the same way they had come to Spencer's. He couldn't help but shut his own eyes as the images bombarded him. No matter how much he tried to block them out, it seemed as though he couldn't fully do it. Kathryne had become a frequent image featured in his already awful nightmares. An image he was pretty sure would forever be burned into his mind. The cold dead eyes were the worst part. 

"How would you feel if, God forbid, anything happened to you and people just described your death as "she dropped"?" Penelope inquired passionately. 

Emily took a sip of her orange juice, unperturbed. "I'd congratulate them from beyond on their accurate description of my death," she answered easily. David snorted. 

Spencer glanced over at Aaron, who had been peculiarly quiet, but the boy just seemed to be deep in thought as he stirred his orange juice with the striped straw that was in it. It was as though he was in a whole other world. 

"Emily, if you're going to die of anything it's lung cancer," David informed her. Emily rolled her eyes, looked around the room, and quickly flipped David off. He continued on, it was obviously not a new event, "It's breakfast time and you already smell like smoke." 

"Excuse me," Emily started with incredulity. "Aren't you the one who sneaks off to smoke cigars?" Before David could reply, she continued. "Not only that, but with the amount of drinking you do you're going to die of liver failure." 

"Can we please not talk about all the ways we're going to die?" Penelope pleaded. "Especially not when someone might actually take advantage of it?" 

"Cigar smoking is in no way as dangerous as cigarettes," David retorted, he ignored Penelope completely. The blonde looked put out. 

"They're still very dangerous," Spencer's voiced. They all groaned, except Emily, because he had gone into his "lecture voice". "All tobacco smoke contains chemicals that cause cancer, cigar smoke is no exception. If you smoke them regularly, you risk several types of cancers, including mouth, lip, tongue, throat, esophagus, larynx and lung." Emily smiled smugly at David, who was glaring holes through Spencer's head. The boy didn't even seem to notice, though. His brain was just one big picture of all that he'd read on the matter. "Not to mention lung and heart disease! If you smoke cigars regularly, you're at an increased risk of it. Including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. You can also have an increased chance of coronary artery disease! Not to mention how cigar smoking has been linked to oral and dental disease-." David seemed to have finally had enough, because he cut Spencer off,

"We get it, I'm a moron. Though I still say she's a bigger moron," he said and gestured to Emily. Who simply sighed in exasperation, but then broke out into a pleased smile, and winked at Spencer.

"I love having a genius around to constantly prove me right," she said happily. 

"Yeah." David snorted. "Right." His eyes got an evil glint in them, and he eyed Spencer. "Hey, Spencer," he begun. "I bet you have some super great statistics to tell Emily on cigarette smoking," he encouraged. Emily looked at him as though he were the devil, and shook her head rapidly.

David had obviously meant to trigger the fact portion of his brain, but he triggered something else entirely. Memories. Memories of his Mother out on their back deck, a book in one hand and a cigarette held to her mouth with the other. A puff of smoke would emerge from her mouth, momentarily hiding her tired, worn out face. Her skin was pale, much like Spencer's own, but it had grown an unhealthy pasty shade. The blue under her eyes from her sleepless nights was apparent. Spencer had always wished he could help her find some rest, much like she had helped him. But he'd tried, and they never seemed to work. One of the things he'd wanted most, though, was for her to stop smoking. But she never seemed to care for his statistics, his facts, the news articles he'd arrange on her bed. She was paranoid about everything except for the side effects of smoking, it seemed.

"Spencer?" David encouraged. 

Spencer blinked, the vision of his Mother faded away like a puff of smoke in the breeze. He frowned, his eyes sad, his heart ached, and he felt utterly defeated. "Wouldn't matter," he told them glumly. "It wouldn't change anything." 

Everyone had looked at him in concern after that, even Aaron, who had broken out of his trance. Spencer didn't pay them any attention, he only looked sightlessly at his chocolate chip pancakes. Most of it was still left on his plate, cut up into little pieces. His Mother's voice echoed through his head, the voice she used when she told him he needed to eat more, that he was far too skinny. She would even at times raise her own bony fingers to pinch the little bit of skin there was on him, to prove just how thin he was.

"So," Aaron finally spoke up, he used the voice he always used when he tried to steer the conversation away from dangerous territory. "Day after tomorrow makes it three weeks. We really need to figure out what's going to happen next." 

"If she cancels the football game, I'm losing it," Derek informed them. Emily stared at him in astonishment.

"Would you rather your game or a person's life?!" She asked him in horror. Derek's eyes widened as he realized how he'd come across. 

"I just mean...I'm frustrated," Derek told them. He ran a hand over his head. "This whole thing is crazy." 

"We can't panic," Aaron hissed at him. He looked around the dining hall to make sure they weren't attracting any attention. 

"There might be people getting killed, Aaron," Derek snapped back at him, he kept his tone at a low volume. "I think we're overdue on the whole freaking out thing." 

"We can't," Emily told Derek matter of factly. "If we panic we'll just make everything worse." 

"Nothing is for sure yet," Aaron reminded them. "We can't get overly freaked out over an assumption." 

"I feel like we're at the start of some slaughter movie," Derek said. 

"Oh no." Penelope gasped. "I hope not! I can never make it through the whole movie!" 

"I know," David replied with a twinge of annoyance. "I went to see one with you and the whole time you kept repeating how wrong it was while you kicked your feet around and spilled your popcorn all over the people both in front and behind you."

"Your fault for taking Penelope to a horror movie," Emily said, a teasing smile on her face as she neatly cut at her own pancakes. She'd kept all of her syrup on the side of her plate, so that she could dip the pieces of pancake into it instead of eating it together at once. 

Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose and took in a slow, calming breath. "So we can't find any proof that Liam may have done it?" 

"You tell me," Penelope replied cheekily. "You're the lawyer." At Aaron's blank expression, she continued seriously, "Nadda. He never interacted out of school with either of them." 

"If anyone would do it, my money is still on him," David told them all. He shook his head. "The kid has a thing against sports, says that schools are handing out scholarships to the undeserving." 

"Since when does that lead to a murdering rampage?" Emily inquired. 

"Isn't his Dad a doctor or something?" Derek asked. 

"Orthopedic surgeon," Spencer corrected. He replayed his brief conversation with Liam in his head. The boy had reached out to him a few more times, but the first conversation had happened to be their longest. "His best subject is chemistry," he recalled. 

"Well." David breathed out a sigh, not one of relief, but of foreboding. "That's not good." 

"It's still not solid evidence," Aaron stated firmly. "Penelope." He looked at the peppy blonde. "What exactly can you do with a computer?"

Penelope offered a sly grin, though her eyes reflected the terror and worry that they all felt, deep down. "Things you could never even imagine." 

"Is hacking into someone's search history one of them?" Aaron inquired hesitantly. He looked as though he knew the dangers that his question could lead to, and probably wanted the police kicking down their dorm door as little as Spencer had. 

Penelope worried her bottom lip, but then smiled again. She nodded her head with excitement and clasped her hands together. "Ohhh!!! I know just how to do this one! I've always wanted to do this one!" 

Aaron looked sincerely worried as he looked at her, Spencer could practically feel the regret that radiated off of him. "What exactly are you going to do?"

"Nothing for you to worry about!" She assured him, chipper as ever. "You just keep lawyering." 

"So now we're hacking into a personal computer?" Spencer whined. He shook his head as he thought of all the laws they were going to end up breaking. "This is going to get bad." 

"Only if I get caught," Penelope said the statement as if it were as unbelievable as a unicorn galloping through the dining hall while a flying nun controlled it with a magic wand that they got from Narnia. "Penelope Garcia never gets caught." 

"We're hacking someone's computer!" Spencer cried out. David smacked a hand over his mouth and glanced around the dining hall. Once he saw no one had noticed, he removed it and glared at Spencer. Who quickly brought a napkin up to wipe at his lips. "Never do that again," Spencer hissed at him.

"Well, if you don't want to get caught committing a crime the best way to avoid it is to not announce it in public," David snapped back. Spencer opened and closed his mouth a few times, but just crossed his arms over his chest in a huff. 

"Eat your food," Penelope ordered him. Spencer looked at her in surprise. "Yes, you, the tiny one. Eat." 

He frowned at her and slowly took a bite of his pancake, she nodded in approval.

At the moment he officially decided the whole group of them were insane. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

They had been dragged to the mall by Penelope...some of them literally dragged. In her excited flurry of practically running up the escalator, and into the shops, they'd made out that they would be looking at homecoming dresses. So far they'd seen about five, and she wasn't slowing down.

Penelope showed them the next homecoming dress, face bright, eyes lit up, it was obvious she favored it. It was a hot pink dress with sequins right over the chest, the bottom of it poofed out into a tutu. "Isn't this amazing?!" She squealed happily. She bounced on the balls of her feet, and the other people in the store looked at her oddly.

"Babygirl." Derek was the first to speak, his tone was fond, eyes filled with endearment. "I thought you already got a dress?" 

"I have A dress," she corrected him. She did a spin and watched as the tutu poofed out even more, obviously amused and overjoyed with movement. "I'm not sure if I have THE dress." 

Spencer frowned and turned to look up at Derek, who was just shaking his head in a fond exasperation. "I don't get it," he told him. 

Derek looked down at him, smirked, and ruffled his hair. "No one does, kid." 

"Okay, young one," Penelope begun and approached Spencer. She gestured to herself, and Spencer looked at her accordingly. He wondered what it was he was supposed to see. "I am a fabulous majestic being, correct?" 

"Uh...I guess?" Spencer agreed hesitantly, he guessed with his knowledge on Penelope that he'd picked the correct answer. 

"I'll take that as a yes. So, I'm a fabulous majestic being, and I need an equally fabulous dress or I lose credibility. Understand?" Penelope asked him. 

Spencer stared at her with increased confusion. "No," he answered honestly. Derek let out loud laugh, David shook his head with a smile, Emily smirked, and Aaron snorted. Penelope just sighed, as though the whole situation was incredibly draining to her.

"You can not be helped, my love," she told him regretfully. 

"Oh..." Spencer blinked. "Sorry?" 

"It's alright, oh young and smart one." Penelope gave him a few pats on his head, almost sympathetically. "You're still a cub, you'll grow soon enough." 

"With all that's going on, and we're worried about a dress." Emily snorted and shook her head. 

"Hey," Penelope snapped at her. Emily looked at her in surprised. "I get it, there's a lot going on, and if I'm going to be honest you and everyone else, then right now I am BEYOND terrified. But, for now, just right now, I want to put on a dress and look like a pretty princess. Now, everyone." She twirled. "Yes or no?" 

"You look pretty." Spencer was the first to break out of the initial surprise of Penelope's statement. "I like it." 

Penelope put a hand over her heart, so it rest on the bright pink sequins. "Oh, be still my heart," she cooed. "Thank you, my little pet genius." 

"Mama, you could wear a garbage bag and you'd still be the prettiest girl there," Derek announced. Penelope's eyes reflected her happiness at that statement, and the bouncing increased, obviously so excited she couldn't stand still. 

"Thanks," Emily said to Derek sarcastically. Derek just merely shrugged in response, a small smile played on his lips. 

"It suits you," David simply stated. Spencer wasn't quite sure whether it was a compliment or not, but Penelope seemed not to mind it. David wasn't the kind to often deliver flattery. 

"You look great, Penelope," Aaron told her kindly. She squealed and bounced up all the way off the ground, her shoes made a loud smack on the ground as they came back down on the smooth flooring. All the others in the store were looked at their group as though they were setting of fireworks or committing some type of felon. Spencer shrunk back, he'd hated the attention, but the others took in in stride. 

"Great! Now, I'm going to take off this dress and hand it to Emily, dresses in Emily's hand are the gorgeous pile, anything I hand David is the not gorgeous pile." David already had five dresses that were seated next to him, he'd stated how he wasn't holding them. "Then at the end we're going to take votes and tally them up for the winner," Penelope informed them. Spencer looked around him, he wondered if anyone was as perplexed by the system as he was, but everyone looked as though the whole thing was an everyday occurrence. 

"Babygirl, just how long might this take?" Derek inquired. 

Penelope waved her hand in dismissal. "My dear, perfection takes some time." 

"Took my Mom nine months," David quipped, Emily made a gagging noise in response.

"So, AKA we'll be in stores all day?" Derek asked.

"No, we'll be in stores for as long as it takes," Penelope corrected. 

"Hey, Emily, have you gotten a dress yet?" David asked her. She rolled her eyes and shook her head in the negative.

"Still have mine from last year." She shrugged. She then groaned when she saw that Penelope stared at her in horror. "I hate you," she hissed at David, who looked incredibly smug. 

"Nuh-uh! No way! No how! We're getting you a fancy new dress, Emmy! I'm not taking no for an answer!" Penelope declared. 

"How about a 'don't call me Emmy' instead?" Emily inquired dryly. Penelope rolled her eyes and gripped Emily's wrist, she tugged her to her feet and looked her over. She snapped her fingertips and her face looked as though a light bulb had gone off over her head.

"I saw just the dress for you!" She squealed with excitement and pulled Emily towards a different section of a store while she called out order to the guys to guard her dressing room. 

"Well, kid." Derek tossed an arm around Spencer. "What do you think about your first shopping trip with the ladies?" 

"Interesting but ultimately confusing," Spencer replied honestly. Derek laughed and pulled away his arm to give him a pat on the back. "I'm sorry about breakfast," Spencer whispered when he thought Aaron and David weren't paying attention, the two had started their own discussion. 

Derek froze for a moment, but then shook it off. "Don't worry about it, kid," he assured him. "I overreacted. I shouldn't have said...I just...I just like to keep my private life private, y'know?" 

"Yeah." Spencer nodded. "I understand. There are things I don't like to talk about, either." 

Derek nodded. "Everyone does, kid," he said softly. "Besides, I already messed up the first day with the reference to your Mom. So I guess we're even." 

Spencer stiffened at the mention of his Mother, his eyes zeroed in on the ground. It was odd, as much as he didn't want to talk about her, another part of him felt compelled to. It was almost as though he'd held so much back, never sharing any of himself with anyone, the thought of having a chance had felt almost exhilarating. But it was also frightening, because where there was trust, there was also betrayal. He wondered if it was really worth taking the leap. 

"I just miss her." Instead of taking the leap, he took a little jump off of the lowest diving board. 

He looked up to see that Derek looked surprised that he'd said anything at all. He took awhile to respond as he mulled over Spencer's words, and Spencer waited patiently. "Yeah," Derek articulated hesitantly and softly. "I get that," he assented. 

There was a lull in their conversation. They both sat there and watched Penelope drag Emily back to the dressing rooms, her arms filled with various dresses and Emily beside her, who looked less than pleased. Derek's lips gave a small twitch, but he then spoke again,

"Everyone around here has problems," he divulged. "Even people like Liam Lockwood," he said the name mockingly. "People who seem wholly perfect. Who you can't seem to find a single flaw in their life. Everyone has shit going on, in this school and out of it. The only difference is people like Liam will cover it at all costs. They'll act like everything is perfect and wonderful. But inside? They're a mess." He let out a long exhale. "We all are." 

“If you look for perfection, you'll never be content," Spencer quoted. "It's a quote by Leo Tolstoy," he explained. 

To Spencer's surprise, Derek laughed. "How do you store all that up there?" He asked as he tapped at Spencer's head. 

"Would you prefer the scientific reason, or my awkward laughter?" Spencer asked light-heartedly. Derek laughed in response, and Spencer smiled, pleased. 

"You are by far one of the weirdest people I've ever met, kid," Derek informed him. Spencer frowned, unsure if the words were intended to be insulting. "I mean, you might even have beat out Penelope, that's something special." At that, Spencer couldn't help but smile. He even let out a tiny laugh. 

Before Spencer could have replied, Penelope had come running out of the dressing rooms. She wore a new dress, this one was a bright red one. There were still sequins that covered the chest, these were silver, and it had a single strap that went crossbody. The bottom skirt portion of it still puffed out, and still made her look like a "pretty princess". 

"Okay, not gonna lie, I have some lipstick that will go perfect with this," Penelope informed them. "I also have a totally amazing pair of high heels that would look like the epitome of excellence with this." 

"Babygirl, you are the epitome of excellence," Derek flirted. Penelope winked at him. 

"You know what they say about being around people for awhile that they end up rubbing off on you," she flirted back. She then smiled slyly. "Though, we haven't quite done that yet." 

"Oh for the love of God," David groaned in distaste. He brought both of his hands up to cover his eyes. "The mental images," he complained. 

But then another dressing room door opened, someone exited, and time seemed to stand still. 

"Oh-em-gee," Penelope squealed. "David, you might want to uncover those eyes!" 

Before them was Emily Prentiss, she stood tall in the dress Penelope had picked out for her. It was a black dress, one sleeved with a slight embellishment in the middle. It was simple, classy, and elegant. It had made Emily look absolutely stunning. 

"Sweetie." Penelope whistled. She walked forward and grasped both of Emily's hands. "To say you look like a million bucks would be marking the price down way too much." 

"I'll pay double," Derek said with flirtation. He blew a joking kiss in Emily's direction, and she rolled her eyes.

"Not for sale," she replied. Derek held a hand to his heart, as though he were wounded.

"Look!" Penelope pointed excitedly at Derek. "You even look so hot you have my man flirting with you! You'll turn every girl at homecoming into a jealous mess!" 

Emily blinked, surprised at that, and then broke out into a grin. "I do like the sound of that," she admitted. At the pleading look on Penelope's face she caved, "I'll get it." 

Penelope let out a cry out of joy and threw her arms around her friend, she bounced them both up and down. She pulled away and continued to stare at Emily with a big grin, her teeth looked a bright white as they were framed by her lipstick. 

"All we need to do is get you some black kitten heels and baby, you will be the hottest little thing to ever stroll into school!" Penelope declared with non-concealed excitement. 

Emily just smiled. "I'll settle for second hottest," she replied fondly. Penelope's grin turned from excitement, to one of affection. 

"I have the greatest friends in the world." She sighed happily. She then spun around to look at the guys. "Okay, so, we'll finish up here, and then get Spencer something." 

"What?!" 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

They were back at the boarding school, in Derek, Aaron, and Spencer's dorm room. Penelope was seated on the floor, her laptop balanced on her legs as she typed into her computer. She let out a cry of delight that startled the rest of the room, Spencer even dropped his bag of pretzels so they spilled all over the floor. He quickly darted to the floor to pick them up. 

"What is it?!" Aaron asked her, alarmed.

"He fell for the trap!" She explained excitedly. "Mama is in his computer!" She said with delight. She typed like crazy and bit her tongue so it poked out slightly from her lips. "Time to check this internet history." 

"Look for anything relating to poisons," Aaron advised her, he tried to sit up straight and peak at her computer to watch what she was doing.

"I know, oh great and powerful leader. This isn't my first rodeo," she replied. 

"...Penelope," Emily begun slowly. Penelope looked up at her curiously. "Have you hacked other people's computers before?" 

"Not particularly...but you shouldn't try to hide your weakness for cat videos so much," Penelope answered. Emily's mouth popped open in shock, and David and Derek absolutely lost it as Penelope continued to go through the search history, her lips were obviously being forced to remain in the serious expression she attempted to sport. 

A little while later she made a noise of pure frustration. "This is useless!" She declared. "I've checked everything, I've even double checked to make sure he hasn't deleted internet history, his searches are so boring that children should be rocked to sleep while these are read to them." 

Spencer picked up a stray piece of pretzel salt he missed earlier and held it between his thumb and index finger. He thought things over in his head as the rest talked, they made sure Penelope had checked high and low. 

"If someone doesn't do a search engine for something, they find it somewhere else," he mused aloud. The whole group looked at him, and he continued to gaze at the salt. As though it was what was providing him with the information. "I know that when I don't look something up, it's because I've already read it in a book." 

Derek's eyebrows knit together and he looked at Spencer, perplexed. "Okay..." he said slowly. "Is there a point to this?" 

"Check out if he's gotten any books from the school library," Spencer advised. Penelope nodded and typed rapidly into her computer. A few moments later she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

"What is it?!" David asked in alarm as he ran up to her, kneeled, and tried to look over her shoulder.

"He's gotten various books on poisons. Some on toxicology, just...all different types. One is a big book which explains all types and what they do. The first one was taken out the very day after Kathryne died," Penelope informed them all. 

"But that doesn't make sense," Derek said. "Wouldn't he have needed the book to kill Kathryne in the first place?" 

"His tactics changes drastically for the second victim," Spencer observed. He flicked the salt straight into the air, and caught the hard pellet back in his palm when it came down. "Kathryne he poisoned and she died on the scene. It was quick and sudden. It wasn't for Richards. His poisoning was days in the making, but he still dropped exactly a week later," Spencer continued. "He'd need further knowledge to know exactly the amount for how to pull that off. Giving someone enough poison to kill them at the scene isn't too hard, but giving them the exact controlled amount to kill them in a precise amount of days would require more guidance." 

"Would you really get all that from a book?" David asked him. 

Spencer snorted. "You have no idea. If you ever want to learn how to become a successful serial killer, just go to the library." 

"Considering you have a library in your head, I'm kind of afraid of you now," David said. Spencer looked at him in surprised, unsure whether or not he was kidding, but they boy's face gave up nothing. 

"Does this mean it's him?" Penelope asked, she was clearly shaken. Her hands trembled above her keys, and her breathing was erratic. 

"He rented out a few books on poisons," Aaron said, almost in a way to dismiss it. "It's not solid evidence." 

"But it sure as hell makes him a more likely candidate," Derek fired back at him. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he'd stood up to start pacing. "I mean, think about it. The guy resents sports and everyone who plays them, his best subject is chemistry, and he's literally rented out books on the art of poison." 

"That still isn't enough to send someone to prison, and it's not enough to accuse them of murder," Aaron replied back calmly. He flipped a pen within his fingertips thoughtfully, it moved with such fluidity that Spencer was almost captivated by it. "We need more."

"How are we going to get more?" David asked. "His search history is clean, and there's nothing in his records. We'd know, Penelope went back all the way to his birth. It's not like we can talk to him, he hates our guts." 

"Not me," Spencer said in a tone that neared inaudibility. He squeezed the salt pellet in his palm, happy for the distraction. "He's been trying to get close to me."

"No way." Derek quickly caught on to where Spencer was heading. His tone left no room for arguments, neither did his posture. He'd stilled his pacing and stood tall and taut. 

"If you guys want to know more about him I'm the only way you're going to achieve that," Spencer reminded them. "He's been trying to get close to me, if I gain his trust I could learn more about him." 

"This is crazy," Derek said. "Somebody else please tell the kid he's crazy." At the silence that ensued after Derek's plea, Derek looked at them all, astonished. "This isn't a game! We think this guy might actually be killing people and you want to send him right to him? We might as well put a little bow on him and hand deliver!" 

"I'll be careful," Spencer assured him desperately. Deep down, he was unsure of what on earth he thought he was doing. "I can do this! It's the only way to rule him out!" 

"There's other ways," Derek argued.

"Then list me some!" Spencer argued back. At Derek's silence, he spoke again, "Exactly! This is the best option!" 

"You've been here just shy of three weeks and you're already set to risk your life," Derek said and put his head in both his hands. "This is getting insane." 

"This has been insane," Spencer countered. "This is our best option!" 

"You guys, tell him he's crazy," Derek encouraged once more. When the silence followed his request again, he looked around the room in astonishment. "You can't be serious." 

"You have to be careful," Aaron said to Spencer sternly. Derek continued to stare at him in disbelief. "Don't be alone with him unless it's in public." 

"Pay attention to everything," Emily continued. "Even things that seem unimportant." 

"You're fine sending the pig into the slaughterhouse?" Derek asked. His eyes reflected how much he hated the idea. 

"I agree with Derek," Penelope said and stuck her hand up to try to grasp at Derek's. "This is bad. He's just a little boy." 

"I'm only two years younger than you," Spencer replied with a deep frown. "I'll be fine."

Derek looked at David and gestured toward Spencer. "You okay with this, man?" 

David opened and closed his mouth a few times, he looked undecided. In the end, all he could muster was a shrug of the shoulders. 

"Great, we're sending the kid to a possible death and you're indifferent," Derek snarled at him. David opened his arms and looked at Derek, insulted. 

"I'm not indifferent, man, but I'm not thinking of too many other options. Unless you want to become Liam's new BFF," David said. Derek just continued to glare at him. "We set rules, and he'll be fine. Kid's a genius." 

"A genius, but still a kid," Penelope fired back at him. 

"Spencer," Aaron's voice was a welcome sound. It was calm, even, understanding. "Are you sure you'd like to do this?" 

Spencer hesitated for only a moment at that question. Was he sure? If Liam really was the killer, he was thrusting himself into a possibly very dangerous situation. But there was no other alternative. "Yes," he answered firmly, bravely. 

"Alright, then." Aaron nodded his head. He looked around the room, the mix of nervousness, anger, and Spencer's determination. "Then it's settled."

Spencer gulped. It was settled indeed, if they wanted to figure out if Liam was the killer, Spencer was going to have to get close to him first. 

God help him.


	8. chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accusations are made as the team delves further into the mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Just want to warn everyone that there is verbal bullying in this chapter! I know some people can be understandably sensitive to that, and I don't want anyone to get hurt from this, so please proceed with caution!

Spencer had awoken on Monday morning miserable. He'd spent all of Sunday with Liam Lockwood, and it seemed to have been an utterly pointless experience. He'd met up with Liam at breakfast and asked if he could sit at his table with his friends. Liam's face had turned smug, and he'd nodded, then he and his friends had all had proceeded to make room for him. Spencer had cast a look of longing across the dining hall, towards his former table. Penelope had blown him a kiss and made a little heart with her hands as she looked at him sympathetically, and Derek had given him a thumbs up. 

Spencer wasn't overly fond of Liam's friends, either. As it turned out, Liam had a girlfriend. Her name was Scarlett. She had fiery red hair that was straight and hung limply past her shoulders. Scarlett's uniform was ironed to perfection, and Spencer saw her look at his rumpled clothing in disgust. Everything Spencer had was neat, but he really had never put any effort into the condition of his clothing. He always had tucked his shirt in, and assumed it to be enough. Aaron had even one day tried to teach him the way to straighten his tie, but he'd ended up just giving up and ended up fixing Spencer's tie himself. 

Liam's other friends were two guys named Sawyer and Owen, a girl named Amelia, and Owen's girlfriend Ella. Spencer had learned even just during breakfast that no one except Owen was fond of Ella. She chewed a little loudly, smacked her lips together a lot when she talked, took a long time to finish basic sentences, appeared exhausted, twitched a lot, and had a tendency to enunciate wrong. But once Spencer had gotten past all that, she had turned into his favorite person who sat at the table. Not like the competition had been intense, but she had been kind to him. When Ella had seen that his omelet was undercooked, she'd hurried to cut her own in half and offer it to him. Scarlett had rolled her eyes, as though Ella had done something that was much more annoying than her actual kind gesture. 

The main thing they all had talked about was classes, and then what they planned to do for the rest of the day. Spencer had done it all with them. They had seen a movie, which Spencer found ultimately unenjoyable. Especially since Owen and Ella had turned out to be movie talkers, and neither seemed to know how to whisper, not to mention that Sawyer ate all the popcorn. 

Afterwards they'd all gone to a café, where Spencer still couldn't drink coffee because the whole table got into a discussion about whether or not it was dangerously addictive, and all ordered herbal teas. Ella and Owen had also split a cinnamon roll, which had lead to Spencer overhearing Scarlett make a snippy comment to Amelia about. She'd said something about the fat content, and Ella already "struggling". Amelia had giggled and quickly scanned the other girl over with her eyes. Spencer had frowned at the utterly cruel nature of it. Especially since it was obvious Ella had overheard it. 

The worst part of it all had been the slight shots that they'd sent towards his friends throughout the day. In every conversation where they had been brought up, there had been some slight shot taken at them. Even Ella had done it. It was blatantly obvious that they all thought themselves to be better than his group, which had Spencer clutching his fists to hold back his anger. He hadn't known the others for long, but in the little while he had known them he'd grown very fond of them. They were the only friends he'd ever had. He felt as though he were associating with the same people who mocked him prior to boarding school.

Spencer told their group that he'd probably still eat breakfast with his friends Monday, because they'd been so nice to him and he hadn't wanted them to feel abandoned. All of them, minus Liam, had rolled their eyes like he'd said the stupidest thing in the world. Liam had merely agreed, and said that they'd save him a seat in case he changed his mind, and that Spencer should try to sit with them for either lunch or dinner. Spencer had easily accepted the invitation, since he knew he had to remain close to Liam to gather as much on him as possible. 

"Rise and shine, kid," Derek greeted and begun to shake Spencer, who he hadn't known had already awakened, and was doing a mental review of the prior day. "It's time to get up." 

"You're up before Aaron?" Spencer inquired with surprise. He'd turned away from his wall to look at the two boys; Aaron had sat straight up after Derek had awoken Spencer, and looked bleary eyed around the room. 

"What can I say?" Derek asked. "I'm maturing." 

"That or the world is ending," Aaron said dryly. He tossed both legs over his bed. "Knowing you, I'd go with the second option." 

"Damn," Derek winced and held a hand to his heart, as though Aaron had mortally wounded him with his words. "Last day on earth and you're still a jackass to me." 

Aaron rolled his eyes, but other than that ignored Derek's remark as he got up and went to the drawers. "Spencer, you were tuckered out when you got back up here; we'll talk more about everything at breakfast," he said absent-mindedly as he stumbled out of the room. 

Spencer watched after Aaron with both of his eyebrows raised. He looked at Derek, as though he would have a clue of what Spencer had just witnessed. Derek simply chuckled. "You have just witnessed the now rare occurrence of Aaron out of sorts." He released a happy sigh of contentment. "It's a sight for sore eyes." 

"Seriously," Spencer's voice was full of both sleep and curiosity. "What on earth did he used to be like?" 

Derek grinned. "Kid, if I told you, you'd never believe me." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Well?" Penelope pressed as soon as he sat down at the table for breakfast. "Anything?" 

"Yes, there were three skeletons hidden in his closet, a container of poison in his back pocket, and he tortures babies on the weekends," Spencer replied dryly as he stabbed his fork into the yolk of the egg and watched morbidly as the yellow liquid leaked out of the puncture wounds. 

"So now he decides to be funny," David responded blankly. "Unbelievable." 

"Spencer," Emily cut in impatiently. "It's officially been three weeks. Today is the day. We need some type of information."

Spencer sighed and stabbed at the remainder of his yolk in frustration. "I didn't get anything of use," he admitted, ashamed. "All I learned was that I officially like books more than people." 

"Well gee, thanks," David responded.

Spencer's eyes widened, and he smiled sheepishly. "Most...people?" 

"Nice save," Derek said sarcastically. "So, what? You spent the whole day with them and you've got nothing?" 

"Ella talks too slow, Owen talks too much, Sawyer is a human garbage disposal, Amelia likes Owen, and thinks she's subtle, and they all have a superiority complex," Spencer explained as he cut up the white of his eggs, and separated them from the leaky yolk. 

"That's it? Nothing about Liam?" Emily pressed on. They all had leaned in around him, as if Spencer was about to spill the secret that would make everything okay again. 

"He...uh...really doesn't like you guys," Spencer replied cautiously. They all had looked unperturbed by the fact, it was obvious it wasn't news. 

"No shit, Sherlock," David said. He looked frustrated. "Spencer, you were around this guy all day, and you've got nothing?" 

"It takes some time," Spencer defended himself. He was frustrated and disappointed in himself for not having learned anything worthwhile, so his own frustration was bubbling to the surface. "I've known you guys three weeks and I don't even know your favorite colors." He paused. "Except Penelope's." 

"Actually, despite popular belief, it's magenta," Penelope explained. Emily put her head in both of her hands. 

"Spencer, we don't have time," Aaron hissed at him. Spencer flinched at the anger he heard in the voice. "Today is the day." 

"Just, think about it," Emily recommended. She'd lifted her head from her hands and met his eyes. "Think over every little detail, like we talked about." 

"She's right," Aaron agreed, his eyes were still intense, and made Spencer want to shrink away from him. "Try closing your eyes and going back over details." 

Spencer frowned, but obeyed. He walked himself through all the events that had happened the day prior. His request to sit at their table for breakfast, the smug look on Liam's face. 

"He was pleased that I sat with them," Spencer informed them. "That may show this was either his plan, or that he doesn't see me as a threat." 

"Okay," Emily encouraged. "That's good, Spencer. Go on." 

"The others weren't surprised," Spencer realized. "They all immediately welcomed me to the table, that means they knew about me." 

"You sure he's not in love with you?" David joked. Spencer still had his eyes closed, but he'd heard the sound of what he believed to be Emily hitting David in the arm.

"They never brought up the two victims," Spencer continued to speak, not bothered by David's comment. "So I have no idea how they feel about it, or them." 

"Did he display any hostility towards anyone?" Aaron inquired.

"Just you guys," Spencer replied. 

"Lucky us," David joked. Spencer heard the smack again, but that time it was accompanied by David actually yelling 'ouch!'. 

"I don't know, guys," Spencer sighed with visible disappointment as he opened up his eyes again. He was met with almost equally as disappointed faces. "I'll see if I can dig anything up at dinner."

"By then it might be too late," Derek said, he looked down at his untouched eggs morbidly.

"...Lunch?" Spencer offered meekly. 

"Okay," Aaron cut in before David could, quite possibly, yell at Spencer. He'd kept his voice calm, and void of any identifiable emotion. Spencer wondered if it was because he'd seen Spencer's earlier reaction the his anger. "Here's what you do; just stay near Liam all day, okay? Watch where he's going, if he's keeping an eye on anybody, everything. Got me?" 

Spencer nodded, as much as he'd dreaded spending another day with Liam, he knew it to be necessary. He felt fear curl up in his gut as he realized that if they were right about the killer, another student could die that very day...and two of their own were options. 

"Hey," Derek put a warm hand on his shoulder, and jostled him. He offered a strained attempt of a comforting smile. "It'll be okay, alright?" 

"Right." Spencer smiled back, but it was forced, and he hadn't truly believed Derek's words. He doubted Derek had, either. 

"You two." Aaron referred to both David and Derek. "Keep an eye on all your teammates. If anyone is feeling ill, get them to the doctor's immediately." 

"If anyone stops breathing it could be cyanide poisoning," Spencer explained. "Do CPR, but do not give them mouth to mouth," he explained, he had the whole group's attention. "Side effects include, headache, dizziness, confusion, anxiety, restlessness, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, chest pain, fast heartbeat, loss of consciousness, and...well...seizures," he explained the last part gravely, and the whole table turned solem.

"This is insane," Penelope breathed with despair. "This is all insane." 

"Babygirl," Derek reached across the table and grabbed for her hand. She let him hold it, and looked at him desperately. "It'll be okay, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she warned him. 

Derek smiled warmly. "You know I never do."

Spencer looked between the two of them. He still felt confused about their relationship. Derek treated her with tenderness, and his eyes always held fondness and love when he gazed at her; but it was never the same look a guy gave his girlfriend. It was the same for Penelope. She flirted with him, and looked to him for comfort, and her eyes always held love for him. It was incredible that two people could have a love so great, that a relationship wouldn't ever cover the truth of it. As far as Spencer could tell, neither of them held much interest in a romantic relationship with one another. Penelope would sometimes make eyes at other guys, and Derek made eyes at...well...Derek was Derek. Penelope was even easier for Spencer to understand than Derek. Penelope was made up of unicorns, rainbows, happy smiles, sugar, spice, and everything nice. Derek was complicated. But Spencer hadn't even once doubted, since the night that Derek had shown the fort to him, that Derek was a good guy. Rough around the edges at times, and cheeky at others, but ultimately, he was kind at heart. 

"At sports practice you two have to be on high alert," Aaron's voice had interrupted Spencer's thoughts. "Don't drink anything, and watch everyone else's drinks." 

"What if I just drink bottled water?" David asked, he was obviously none too fond of the idea of drinking nothing after a long practise. Spencer couldn't blame him, when he simply walked up the stairs he felt the intense need to drink a gallon of water, himself. 

"Kathryne only drank bottled water," Aaron argued. 

"Man, hers was open," Derek cut in. 

"Should we really risk it?" Aaron snapped. Derek held his hands up in submission. 

"Another eye might help," Spencer suggested. Everyone looked at him in confusion. "Someone to watch over it all to make sure nobody puts anything in the drinks," he elaborated. 

"I call football!" Penelope cheered and raised her hand immediately, Derek had long since released it. Her former eagerness had returned slightly, but it didn't reach her eyes. 

"No, man," Derek disagreed. "We're not putting other people in danger." 

"It's in public, and whoever is doing this hasn't attacked anyone physically," Spencer reminded him. "It shouldn't be dangerous."

"Spencer makes a good point," Aaron agreed. "He hangs around Liam to make sure he doesn't do anything, and we hang around the practices to make sure no one else does anything," Aaron explained. "It's a good way to keep our eyes on the suspect, while also keeping our eyes on any other probabilities." 

"Yeah, except there aren't enough enough of us to look after all the sports practises," Emily pointed out. "Some sports haven't started yet, but under athletics there's still guys and girls volleyball." 

"Look, okay, I'll be fine looking over everything," Derek dismissed them. "David should be, too. So you guys should just cover the others." 

"Don't we have a swim team?" David inquired, he spoke while his mouth was filled with egg. It had made Spencer wrinkle his nose in disgust. David had noticed his expression, and just rolled his eyes. 

"It was listed as a club, and it got shut down," Aaron replied. 

"I'll take the girl's soccer, then," Penelope volunteered. "I might get a chance to talk to Jennifer after." 

"I'll take girls volleyball, then," Emily said. "I don't think Aaron creeping around a girl's practice would look good," she pointed out. 

They all nodded, except Spencer, who looked abnormally sad. Derek sighed and gave the kid a pat on his back. "I know it sucked yesterday, kid, but this is important."

Spencer shook his head, "That's not what I'm sad about," he said. Derek looked at him with evident confusion. "I won't get to help Mason."

"Who?" David inquired.

"The groundskeeper," Spencer explained. "I help him with the garden." 

"...Why?" David looked at him with complete confusion, as though Spencer had just said he kept a garden of heads that he fed the blood of the innocent to keep alive. 

"...Because it's fun." 

"He wants to learn to carve a pumpkin," Derek interjected. David looked even more baffled. 

"Why?!" He asked.

"Because I've never carved one," Spencer answered simply.

"You're a genius and THIS is your deepest desire?!"

"That's enough," Aaron growled before Spencer could even reply. Everyone looked at each other, worried. Aaron's right eye was twitching. "This is a bit more important. Spencer, spend lunch and dinner with Liam, and all the time you can manage in between. We all have our roles for the sports practice. Penelope, see if you can get out of Jennifer what Kathryne said, it could be vital information. Do you all understand me?" 

"Yes, sir, boss, sir," Penelope saluted jokingly and Aaron rolled his eyes, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. 

"Remember, this might be kept under wraps, so tomorrow make sure all the sports players are still here," Aaron ordered. 

"We get it, man," Derek told him. "We'll be on high-alert. No worries." 

"Maybe this is still all nothing," Penelope suggested, her voice shaky, and her eyes held fleeting hope. "Maybe no one will die." 

"Maybe they won't," Aaron agreed. "But we need to be careful." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Hi!" Spencer caught up with Liam right after breakfast. He'd gotten an encouraging look from his table, and offered a tiny smile back at them. They all had their jobs to do, it was time for him to do his.

Liam turned to look at Spencer, and offered him a grin. "Hello, Spencer," he greeted primly. "How was breakfast?" The latter part was said with bemusement. Spencer had to control himself so not to roll his eyes. 

"It was fine, my food was cooked this time," he told him pleasantly. They walked out of the dining hall together, a herd of other students pressed into them, unconcerned with the violation of personal space "But would you mind if I ate lunch and dinner with you guys?" He inquired innocently.

Liam looked at him with initial surprise, that soon turned into his usual smugness, which he then tried to mask with delight. "Of course!" He said. "We'd love to have you sit with us. Your company is always welcome." 

Spencer smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much," he said. "Just out of curiosity, what do you do for free time? You know, during sports practice and everything. It's just, my group is really obsessed with it and the ones that aren't do their own thing and it just kind of leaves me alone," Spencer lied. 

"We mainly get together to study," Liam responded. "You're more than welcome to join us in my room."

"That would be great," Spencer said with more enthusiasm than he felt. He'd rather have been out aiding Mason. "But I don't know where your room is."

"That's alright," Liam replied. "I'll lead you there after chemistry." 

"That's perfect." Spencer smiled shyly. "Thanks so much." 

"It's no problem," Liam said, his grin was wide and almost seemed to border on dangerous. "I'll see you then. I gotta get my stuff."

Spencer nodded in understanding. "Yeah, me too, I'll see you in class." 

Liam gave him a small wave before he was off. Spencer released a long, loud, breath of despair. Boarding school was about to get even less pleasant. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Lunch had been boring. That was the only word Spencer could possibly think of to describe it. The conversation was mild, and low-key at best. For a group of friends, they really hadn't seemed to enjoy each other's company too much. Owen talked the most out of all of them, but he only seemed to talk about things that no one else enjoyed or could share his interest in. He held a one man conversation. Every time Ella spoke, Scarlett made a noise of displeasure, and would look at Amelia who would roll her eyes and mouth out an insult. 

When it had ended, Spencer almost ran out of the dining hall with immense amounts of joy, but was able to tone himself down enough to say goodbye, and to say he'd see them all in class and during free-time. He'd even mustered up a falsified look of eagerness. 

He'd found himself glued to Liam's side. They had many of the same classes, and so he was constantly around him. The boy spoke idly about very little as they walked through the halls, and in class he was quiet as a mouse, absorbed into the subject at hand. It was one thing Spencer actually found himself appreciating about him, was his dedication to his work. Spencer was at the point where the subjects all bored him. The words spoken melted together with the ones he already had memorized in his head, and only managed to give him a migraine. He'd read it all before, long ago. It just intensified the feeling of not belonging. 

He hadn't thought himself above his classmates, but he thought himself above the grade level in which he was shoved in. Spencer's Mother had so much faith in him, in his abilities. Spencer felt ashamed at the fact that he hadn't been able to go further in the school system, shame in the fact he wasn't already heading towards a PhD like he knew he could have been. He could have accomplished so much more. But he was stuck in the same old classes, to learn the same things he'd learned about long before. The A's hadn't even meant anything to him; because he hadn't felt like he'd earned them. He'd seen students tugging their own hair out of their heads as they tried to grasp a subject, while he could have gotten up to teach the class himself. They were the ones who deserved praise for how hard they worked, not him. 

But his Father refused to listen to him. Spencer saw the way he stared at him. His Father was never proud of him, not one bit. All William Reid had wanted was a normal son he could show off. Not a freak. Not someone who could read you War and Peace just from what he had of it stored in his head, but floundered in any given social situation. He wasn't what his Father had wanted, but he was what his Mother had adored, which was why he felt as though his life would eternally be unfair. 

~.~.~.~.

After AP chemistry had ended, Liam had waited for him outside the classroom, as promised. He perked up when he saw Spencer exit, and gave the boy a wave. "Ready?" He inquired.

"Mhm," Spencer hummed. They both begun to walk, and Spencer looked behind himself at the direction to the garden with longing. He'd wanted so badly to ditch Liam, to run to the gardens and help out Mason. Mason who understood what it was like to be lonely, and actually enjoyed his company. But he knew what he had to do. He always did what he had to do. 

"So, what did you think of class today?" Liam inquired. It was obvious small talk to fill in conversation gaps until they reached his dorm room.

"Chemistry? It was...interesting," he lied. He'd already known everything the teacher had taught them, and it was almost an identical class to the one they had the first week. He would have fallen asleep, but he hadn't wanted the trouble that would have followed. 

"You're a terrible liar," Liam informed him dryly. "What didn't you like about it?" 

Spencer shrugged. "The lesson was repetitive, the teacher seemed annoyed, and tired, I had already learned the material, and the person seated beside me wouldn't stop tapping his pencil," he answered honestly. 

Liam seemed surprised by the blunt answer, despite the fact he had asked for it. "Do you not like chemistry?"

"I like chemistry. That's why I found the class so boring. I liked it, so I already learned it," Spencer replied simply. 

Liam looked at him oddly, but seemed to shake it off. The rest of the walk to his room was made silently, which Spencer hadn't minded entirely. He'd never been good at small talk. It had its place in the world, but he just had never been able to master it.

So they walked in silence.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Liam's room hadn't been up nearly as many stairs as his was, so Spencer took joy in that small victory. His room was roughly the same size, but it only had one bed in it, which had made Spencer frown, did Liam have his own bedroom? 

The bed had different blankets and sheets than the standard ones that he, Aaron, and Derek all had, too. They looked to be silk, and expensive. He supposed Liam's parents sent them to school with him. Not that he could much blame him for it, Spencer himself found the sheets they were given a tad bit scratchy, and the pillows to be far too soft. His head often plummeted into them so deep he could feel the mattress beneath it. 

Liam's other friends were already in the room, and were all seated either on the floor or in chairs, no one had taken a seat on Liam's bed. So they obviously all had more consideration for personal objects than Spencer's own group of friends had. No one in the group had any problem plopping down on Spencer's bed instead of their own if they were too tired. One night Spencer was especially sick of it and considered the pros and cons of smothering Derek with a pillow. 

"Hey, Spencer," Owen greeted awkwardly. It was accompanied by a tiny little wave that didn't look enthusiastic or genuine. "Good to have you with us." 

"Yeah, who doesn't want a genius to help them study?" Amelia agreed, though she had about the same level of sincerity as Owen. Spencer hadn't taken much offense to it, they hadn't even seemed to like each other all that much. 

"You'd be surprised," Spencer joked weakly.

"Well you don't have to worry much," Scarlett told him. She was seated on a swivel chair in the corner of the room, a textbook underneath one of her arms. "We're all pretty much straight A students...well." She cast a glance down to the floor where Ella sat next to Owen. The girl's lips were bright blue, and she had a lollipop in her mouth. She seemed oblivious to the fact that Scarlett's eyes were on her. "Most of us," Scarlett finished. Ella still seemed to not have a clue, and Spencer couldn't help but pity her. 

"Do you have your notes with you?" Amelia asked Spencer, her eyes critically looked over his entire form. 

Spencer shook his head and shuffled his feet awkwardly. The only thing he'd had with him was his chemistry textbook, which he hadn't the chance to bring back to his room. "I can keep mental notes," he explained. 

"Well it must help to keep written ones," Amelia said. 

"Not really. It just eats up time," he continued to explain. It almost seemed to annoy Amelia, who looked away from him in a huff.

"Well, take a seat," Liam cut in awkwardly. He gestured around the room and walked past Spencer to take a seat on his own bed. "Anywhere you'd like." 

Spencer looked around the room. There were no free chairs available, and the only spots close to the rest of them were next to Ella and Owen, so he sat next to Owen. He felt out of place. Not at all like he had with the other group. While he sometimes felt...abnormal with them, they were all abnormal, and together they fit. With Liam's group of friends, there were no jagged lines, everyone fit together perfectly and evenly, and there was no room for imperfection. 

Spencer felt like the blemish on an otherwise spotless face. 

"So, Spencer," Ella spoke slowly. Spencer gave her his attention, while the others all rolled their eyes. All except Owen, who simply smiled lovingly at her. "Do you like biology?" 

Spencer nodded. "I enjoy it very much," he answered. "It's a broad field, and a fascinating one." 

Ella smiled tightly. "I'm bad at it," she informed him. "The names of everything are confusing." 

"Not if you learn to pronounce them right," Amelia muttered under her breath. Spencer had barely caught it, and Scarlett giggled. 

"Uh, lemme see your notes," Spencer offered. Ella placed the lollipop fully in her mouth, she then proceeded to hand her notes over immediately, and Spencer read them quickly. "You got the DNA and RNA bases confused," he told her. 

"Huh?" She asked in confusion. 

"You must have written them down too fast. It's not a big mistake. They match up just about equally except that RNA doesn't have thymine, it has uracil. So that would make it so adenine is equal to uracil in the RNA, and in the DNA it matches up to thymine. Uracil and thymine are almost chemically identical, but uracil lacks its 5′ methyl group," Spencer explained calmly. 

"It's basic, really," Scarlett snipped.

Ella flushed bright red, and Spencer took pity on her. "If you could give me your pencil, I'll correct it for you," he offered kindly. 

Ella nodded her head frantically, and handed him her pencil. "If you could add the other stuff, too, that'd be nice," she said. Spencer nodded as he erased her writing and replaced it with his own. 

"So, Spencer," Amelia spoke up again as Spencer went through the rest of Ella's notes and subtly fixed some and added to others. He made a small humming noise in response to Amelia. "What made you decide to come to boarding school?" 

"My Father thought it would be a better education," he replied plainly. 

"Did you go to public school before?" Amelia inquired. She said "public school" like how someone would say "dirty laundry" or "garbage". 

"Yes," Spencer answered quickly. 

"Not even private school?" Sawyer asked, his mouth full of cheetos. 

"Nope," Spencer said. 

"How do you like it here?" Owen asked. Spencer frowned, he had hoped that the "study" session would involve more studying. 

"It's alright," he replied. He was just going to leave it at that, but he decided to delve in deeper, as his group had wanted him to do the day prior. "It was a rough first day here, though." 

The room grew quiet, everyone had known what he had been referring to. "Yes," Owen was the first to agree with him. "It was." 

"Stuff like that doesn't happen here," Scarlett told him. Spencer noted that Liam was unnaturally quiet. "It was frightening." 

"I still say it's because that idiot spiked the punch," Amelia huffed. "Who does that at a boarding school party?" 

"The kind that gets in here strictly because he's good at sports," Scarlett answered. "The type that doesn't belong here."

Spencer frowned. "What do you mean?" 

The two both had the decency to widen their eyes, they had probably momentarily forgotten that Spencer was friends with David. That, or they'd remembered and just wanted to play innocent.

"What they mean is," Liam spoke up, Spencer immediately looked at him. "David Rossi is mainly here because he's a good soccer player, so they overlooked his less than impressive GPA." 

Spencer frowned. "I...didn't know they did that at boarding schools." 

"This one does it," Amelia said. "You know, my Mom says its all gone to hell because of it. This school used to home the brightest minds, and for some reason they wanted to work on their sports department."

"It's because schools are shoving sports down our throats," Owen chimed in. "Some schools are even making it mandatory." 

"It's unfair," Scarlett said. "Good students are getting passed by because someone can throw a ball. That's the only reason Derek Morgan is here. I also heard extra money was thrown in just to get him away from his house." 

Spencer felt a bit of anger flare up within him, Derek was his friends, and he was very secretive about his personal life. 

"That's enough," Liam surprised Spencer with his words. "Spencer's friends with Derek." 

"I don't get that," Scarlett said to Spencer. "You're beyond intelligent. You skipped two grades, and you don't even need to take notes in class. Why are you hanging out with them?" 

Many different replies had flown through Spencer's mind. Many different ways he could have defended his friends; but he knew if he said a single one of them, he'd never be allowed to hang out with Liam's group again, and that possibly meant forfeiting any vital information. So he merely responded, "They're friends of my roommates." 

"Doesn't mean you have to hang out with them all the time," Scarlett pointed out. Her eyes observed Spencer analytically, in a way almost more unnerving than Aaron's. 

"I'm not with them right now, am I?" Spencer shot back. 

Scarlett actually smiled, her eyes flashed almost with a type of appreciation. "No," she agreed. "I guess you're not." 

"You really shouldn't at all anymore." Amelia couldn't seem to give up. "I mean, David Rossi pretty much killed somebody!" 

That sent a shock right to Spencer's gut. He'd expected a lot of things, but the accusation of David being the person behind Kathryne's death was especially horrifying. "She didn't drink the punch," Spencer reminded her.

"That we know of!" Amelia cried out. "I mean, who knows if he put anything else in it? He's dangerous to this school, I've tried telling Strauss that." 

"I heard he was a mobster before he came here," Ella added in. Spencer almost ripped up her notes in spite. "That he was sent here by his parents to try to better himself."

"He wants to join the military," Spencer stated. His voice was much too tight, and held an obvious note of annoyance in it. "Marines, specifically." 

"Oh God," Owen groaned. "Could you imagine having someone like David Rossi in the military?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Amelia said. "It's what the world is coming to." 

"I apologize, Spencer," Liam said with a glare directed towards his, seemingly oblivious, friends. "Once they get going they just don't stop." 

"We're really just looking out for him," Amelia told him. "He should know who he's been hanging around with." 

"Amelia has a point," Sawyer agreed. His hands were covered in orange gunk, and it made it hard for Spencer to take him seriously. "He should know what he's getting into."

"Isn't Emily Prentiss's Mother an ambassador?" Ella inquired. Scarlett and Amelia rolled their eyes. 

"Yes, everyone knows that," Scarlett answered. "Doesn't make her any less trashy." 

Spencer frowned deeply at the insult tossed at Emily. There were many words to describe Emily, and probably even more than his extensive vocabulary knew, but "trashy" was not one of them. Emily was an incredible person, and someone that in just three weeks Spencer had grown to admire. 

"Everyone knows how she slept with Doug Eccleston in sophomore year," Amelia commented. Spencer's eyes widened in surprise at the remark. 

"Please," Scarlett scoffed. "She slept with everyone sophomore year." 

"That's nothing compared to how many girls have slept with Derek Morgan," Amelia added with a roll of her eyes. "Any girl that sleeps with him has no self respect." 

"Did any of you guys know her?" Spencer switched the subject. He was scared he might have changed it too quickly, but he could no longer handle the insults that were carelessly tossed at his friends. As someone who had often been bullied, Spencer knew how much words could hurt a person.

"Who?" Owen asked in confusion. "Emily Prentiss?" 

"No," Spencer said. "Kathryne."

The room once again grew silent, and Spencer let his eyesight wander over to Liam, who sat stiff on the bed. His textbook was spread out in front of him, and he was idly writing in his notebook, but his hand seemed to freeze where it was. A response that Spencer immediately took a mental note of. 

"She was a soccer player," Amelia was the first to answer him. "I don't really hang around soccer players much." Everyone made small noises of agreement, except Liam, who Spencer noted wouldn't even meet their gaze. A sign of guilt. 

"It was scary," Ella said with fright. 

"You weren't even there," Scarlett scoffed at her. Ella looked at her in alarm.

"Yes I was," she argued, her voice shook slightly. 

"No you weren't," Amelia agreed. "We looked all around for you, you weren't there." 

"Well, I was," Ella insisted. "I saw the whole thing happen." 

"Baby," Owen cut in with a kind smile directed at his girlfriend. "It's okay if you weren't." 

"Well I was," Ella informed them angrily. "I saw her drink her bottle, and then flop onto the ground a few moments later." 

Now that not only got Spencer's attention, but Liam's head shot up as well to look at her with surprise. Spencer attempted to hide his own reaction, but he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Liam's mouth was still agape and he could almost see the boy's chest move with the rapid beat of his heart. 

If he wanted something to strengthen their case, he was pretty sure he'd just received it. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"It's him," Emily said with surety after Spencer had told his story. 

"We still don't have proof," Aaron told them, which made them all groan. But he held up his hands in appeasement. "But the case is growing." 

"Well, at least Spencer got something," Penelope said sadly. "I tried to talk to Jennifer after soccer practice about what she said. But she told me to forget it, and that it was stupid." 

"Still doesn't change what she already told you, babygirl," Derek assured her and tossed an arm around her. They were both seated on his bed, side by side. The rest of the group had reported that there was nothing abnormal about the sports practices they had all sat in on. Except for the fact that David had taken great joy in hearing that Aaron had almost gotten caught watching. 

"His own room would give him the privacy he needed to do all this," David chimed in. "If he had anything, he wouldn't have to hide it from a roommate." 

"Did he say anything else, Spencer?" Aaron asked. Spencer bit his lip and looked directly at David, but held it all in. He'd left their accusation out, he hadn't wanted to hurt the other boy.

"No," Spencer lied. But they all had seen right through it.

"Come on, kid," Derek encouraged. "What else did he say?" 

"Nothing." Spencer stuck with his lie, but his eyes betrayed him and he glanced at David quickly, the other boy caught it. "Nothing else of use." 

"Oh, was it about me?" David asked with amusement. "Come on, let's hear it!"

"He didn't say anything about you." Spencer comforted himself with at least that part being partially truthful. The part he was scared of revealing to David hadn't been said by Liam.

"You suck at lying," David told him. "Come on."

Spencer looked around the room desperately, but no one else jumped in to say anything or to help him out. They all seemed to support David's decision to hear it. "They just said a lot about all of you," Spencer informed them honestly. He didn't want to hurt David. Or any of them.

"Like..." David urged him on, apparently not willing to just let it hang there. 

"Come on, kid," Derek joined in. "We've heard it all." 

"Just that you guys were bad influences, and that I shouldn't hang out with you," Spencer whispered, and tried to leave out the worst parts. 

"Yeah, we know that part, tell us what else," David continued. His eyes were lit up, as though he were overjoyed to hear the terrible thing spoken about himself. 

"That was all of it," Spencer stuck by his story.

"Maybe what they said was important, Spencer," Emily added in. 

"Trust me, it's not," Spencer assured them as he kicked his feet against the floor awkwardly. 

"Okay, Spencer, we're friends, right?" Derek asked him. Spencer nodded quickly. "Good! Now, as friends, if people say bad things about us, you have to tell us. It's a rule." 

Spencer frowned at that. He hadn't had friends before, so he couldn't disprove the logic, but it didn't sound right to him. "Why would you want to know if people say bad things about you?" 

"Because you've got to know what people are saying. If it's a rumor, the average person would probably want to disprove it. I would rather laugh, but that's just me," David told him. 

"Fine," Spencer begrudgingly agreed. He eyed the floor, wary of what he was to say. "They said David and Derek are only here because they can play sports. That anyone who sleeps with Derek has no self-respect-." David laughed hysterically and Derek glared down at him. "That Emily is trashy-." Emily snorted, Spencer decided to leave out the part about her and the Doug guy. "Then also that...um...they talked again about how David spiked the punch," Spencer finished.

"They said something else, too. Come on, don't hold back," David encouraged. 

Spencer remembered the look on David's face the first day when he did think it was his fault, and felt his words catch in his throat. But the other boy just wouldn't let it drop. "One of the girls think what happened to Kathryne is your fault," he said softly. He hung his head, unable to meet David's gaze. 

There was utter silence in the room. Spencer kept his head down, he didn't want to see David's face. He knew he shouldn't have said anything. He felt terrible. But they'd just kept pushing. He'd tried multiple times not to say it. 

"It wasn't," David stated thickly. He had emotions Spencer couldn't quite pinpoint in his voice. But it definitely had no hint of his former amusement. "It wasn't my fault."

"We all know that, man," Derek said. Everyone nodded frantically in agreement.

"She didn't even drink the punch," Emily agreed. 

"They were mean about everyone," Spencer attempted to comfort him softly. "Amelia would say something terrible about a rock if she could," he joked weakly. 

"Do you guys think it was possible that it was my-." David was cut off as soon as the words had begun to leave his mouth.

"No!" Almost everyone said at once. Aaron then took over and spoke up, "David, it wasn't your fault. You put a bit of liquor in the punch, which she didn't drink. It wasn't you. They're just looking to blame something on you."

"They'll say whatever they can about us to make us look bad," Emily agreed. 

"Does everyone in school think it was my fault?" David asked, his mind obviously unable to detach itself from the topic.

"I haven't heard a thing," Penelope assured him. "It's probably just Amelia." 

"Amelia is a bitch, anyway," Emily commented. "She puts everyone down to make herself feel better." 

"...not a bad kisser though." Derek grinned. The whole room looked at him in shock.

"There's no way," David said. Apparently, Derek kissing Amelia was the only thing that could break him out of his other thoughts. 

"Sophomore year," Derek told them proudly. 

"She's the one that said any girl that sleeps with you has no self-respect," Spencer informed him with disbelief. 

Derek laughed. "She's just bitter because I made out with Katie Stevens the following week, and took Katie to homecoming." 

"You also hit that the following year," David reminded him with a grin.

"Hell yeah I did." Derek grinned back, and leaned down from the bed so that the two could high-five.

Emily made a gagging noise and Penelope just giggled. "You boys are so gross," Emily said. 

David and Derek laughed, but David's face quickly fell again. He looked around the room hesitantly, eyed all of them critically. "I didn't mean to actually hurt anyone. You guys know that, right?" He asked with insecurity. He said it in a way that Spencer had never heard him spoken before. "It was just a dumb joke. If I'd thought anyone would have gotten hurt by it, I never would have done it."

"David," Aaron said softly. "No one did get hurt from it."

"I know." David nodded. "It's just...I know the things people say about me," he said sadly. "I know you guys know it, too...and it's not true." 

"Man, we know it's not true," Derek told him gently.

"David, we've known you for years, and even Spencer has only known you for three weeks and he even knows it's not true," Emily spoke gently, and Spencer nodded his head to prove her point. 

At the silence that followed, Spencer spoke up. He found he never quite said the right thing, but besides all that, he felt compelled to speak. "I used to have people say bad things about me all the time," he told the room softly. He fiddled with his hands to try to distract himself from the memories. "Everyone always believed them, and everyone always hated me. But...it doesn't matter. As long as you know that what people say isn't true, then who cares what other people think?" he asked softly. "In a few years...none of them will matter." 

The room grew dead silent after that. Everyone looked as though they had so many things to say, but none probably knew quite how to say it. Situations such as the one they were in were delicate, one wong move could truly hurt a friend, and worsen the entire situation. It almost highlighted Spencer's bravery that he had chosen to speak at all. Especially since he'd offered up personal information, which was rarely spoken about amongst the group.

"Heh, guess you got a point," David agreed with him with a small smile. "After school I'll probably never see Amelia again." 

"But you'll see plenty of us," Penelope said. "Because we're not going anywhere! Even if you go into the military! We'll be waiting here for you!" 

David smiled at her with obvious affection, and Derek placed a hand down on his shoulder to shake him with fondness. "So, how did a jerk like myself get you guys as friends again?" 

"You're damn lucky, man," Derek told him as he laughed. "You're damn lucky."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had awoken the next morning petrified. By the looks of Derek and Aaron, he was able to tell that they were, too. They'd all sat in their room for an abnormally long period of time, all on their own beds. They all dreaded what was to come. It was going to be the moment of truth, and no one wanted to know what it was. 

"We should probably head down for breakfast," Aaron said softly. He ran a hand through his dark hair and let out a heavy sigh. 

"Nobody died yesterday," Derek told them. "But of course, last time we didn't find out until breakfast." 

"Well," Aaron stood up. "We're about to find out."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Breakfast had been an odd occasion. For the reason that, everyone was still there. All the tables were filled with their full amount of players, everyone looked to be in perfect health, and nothing seemed out of sorts.

Except Erin Strauss. Who looked around the dining hall with as much confusion as the group of friends had felt. 

"What does this mean?" Penelope whispered her inquiry out. "Does this mean it's over?" 

Aaron looked around the dining hall and let out a long gust of breath. "That's the problem," he told them. "I don't know."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New plans are established, and horrors return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mildly violent imagery

Four days had passed, and it was the weekend once again. Spencer had counted the week in whole as one of the worst weeks of his life. He still was forced to spend time with Liam and his friends, and despite the fact they were all of above average intelligence, he felt as though he was losing brain cells every second he spent time with them. He still ate breakfast with his group every morning, but was forced to spend lunch, dinner, and free-time with Liam and his friends. He'd missed his trips to the gardens, and felt as though he were betraying Mason.

That weekend it was the first football game of the school year, and Derek was just about bursting with excitement. The whole group had spent the last five days in a state of confusion. No one had died, and virtually nothing had changed. Spencer had been incapable of digging up any further information from Liam and his friends, other than the fact that Amelia thought Emily's hair looked as though it were styled by the homeless, and that Scarlett apparently had a bone to pick with Aaron. She wouldn't say what it was, and Liam just rolled his eyes every time he was brought up. He'd tried to ask Aaron, but they boy had clammed up immediately, and Derek had snorted out his orange juice. 

"Good luck, man," David told Derek at breakfast. "The other team kicked ass last year." 

"Thanks for the reminder," Derek responded to him dryly as he scooped up his eggs. "They got lucky." 

"Sure they did," David drawled, a teasing glint in his eyes. "The fact that your team barely scored was strictly coincidental." 

"Do you want to end up with yolk on your head?" Derek inquired. He lifted his egg coated fork as a threat. "Because I think you want to end up with yolk on your head." 

"It's actually good for the hair," Penelope told them as she put her eggs on top of her toast. "I've done it before." 

"You've done everything to your hair," Emily said with amusement. "How is it still on your head?" 

"I did fry it once," Penelope said, remorse evident on her features. "It was terrible. I felt as though I had killed my child." She put a hand to her chest, strictly for the dramatics of it all. 

"Egg yolk is loaded with nutrients," Spencer informed them absent-mindedly. His energy had slowly been draining from him over the course of the five days. "Has vitamins A, D, and E. They're good for your hair because it protects it against UV rays, pollution, and chlorine. It's also good for preventing hair loss. My Uncle used to cover his hair in it." 

"Did he stop because it didn't work?" David inquired as he mashed his eggs up, he obviously wasn't hungry that morning. 

"No. He stopped when he died," Spencer answered automatically. The whole table froze, forks even stopped midway towards mouths. Spencer just continued to eat until he realized the mood wouldn't go back to normal. "Not because of the egg." He wouldn't reveal the real reason for his Uncle's death. It was a "family secret". His Father hadn't wanted it out there that his Uncle had died from a drug overdose. Of course he wouldn't, he thought it would make himself look bad. 

"Uh...condolences," David offered awkwardly. Spencer nodded at him in acceptance. 

"So, homecoming soon." Penelope clapped her hands together and rubbed them with excitement. "Are we going to go as a group? Or are we doing the date thing?" 

"What's the date thing?" Spencer inquired. 

"Derek and I go together, Emily and Aaron go together, and David goes with a random girl," Penelope explained. 

"Unless Derek brings a random girl, then I go with Penelope," David elaborated. 

"Wait! It wouldn't work!" Penelope gasped. She eyed Spencer and gestured towards him. "Then no one could go with Spencer!" 

"We could always get him a date-." David stopped mid-sentence, and looked Spencer up and down. "Yeah we should do a group thing." He nodded, and went back to his eggs. 

Spencer frowned. "Hey!" He cried out, insulted. The fact did hit him that he'd never actually had a date, but plenty of boys his age hadn't yet. It wasn't as if it were too much of an abnormality. 

"Man, you'd be quoting statistics in her ear all night," David told him. "I don't know if that's exactly a turn on." 

"Oh, stop that!" Penelope whacked him in the arm. "You're going to make him feel bad!" 

"Okay, Spencer, what is something else that makes you feel confidant?" Derek inquired with a grin to the boy beside him. Spencer looked up at him through the lenses of his glasses curiously. He hadn't a clue what that exactly had to do with anything, but he decided to play along with Derek's demands, he did seem to know a lot about girls, after all. 

"Um...I can do magic tricks," he explained shyly. Everyone at the table looked at each other in confusion.

"Since when can you do magic tricks?" David asked him. "I've known you for almost four weeks, and you've never done a magic trick." 

"I've beaten you at every single game we've played," Spencer answered smugly. He flicked out his hands and exclaimed, "Magic." 

David glared at him, and everyone else laughed. "Okay, genius, let's see you do magic." 

Spencer frowned as he looked down at the table. "I have nothing to do it with," he whined. 

"Uhhh, here." Emily dug through her jacket pocket and pulled out a stray quarter. Her pack of cigarettes nearly tumbled out with it, and she patted it back down. "Do the coin thing." 

Spencer took the coin from her and looked at it, amused. "A bit overplayed, but a classic," he declared. The whole table snorted, and rolled their eyes. They watched as Spencer took the dirty old quarter, roughened up with time, and made it disappear. 

"Oh my god," Penelope squealed. "You did it! He did it!" She pointed at him, as though nobody else had seen it, and shook David. 

"Come here," Spencer told her, and gestured for her to lean across the table, once she had Spencer reached toward her ear, and "pulled" out the quarter from behind it. Penelope squealed and clapped her hands together. 

"Now that." David gestured to the whole area around him. "That might get you a date."

"Not bad," Emily agreed. She then stuck out her hand. "But can I have my quarter back?" 

Spencer grinned at her proudly. "You already have it back. It's in your hair." Emily stared at him, perplexed, and then put a hand through her soft hair, a quarter then tumbled out from the dark locks and smacked onto the table; the noise so loud that a few tables turned to look at them in annoyance. She picked it up slowly and looked at it in amazement. The whole table looked at Spencer in bafflement. 

"How the hell did you do that?" Emily asked him, stunned. She held the quarter in the palm of her hand and continued to stare at it, as though it could tell her how Spencer had managed to make it disappear and reappear in strange places twice. 

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Spencer told her, he looked very satisfied with himself. Arms crossed over his chest, a grin apparent on his face, and he almost had a sense of bravado to him. It was as though he morphed forms right in front of them. 

"You see? That could charm a chick," Derek informed the table as he looked at Spencer with amusement. "I even think I'm charmed a little bit."

"I'm fine with just going as a group," Spencer said shyly, all former confidence seemed to vanish instantly. 

"Awwww," David crooned, and reached across the table to ruffle Spencer's hair. "Somebody has never asked out a girl before." 

"It's fine, Spencer. Don't worry about these jerks. Group works fine," Emily said with a glare tossed at David. 

"That is, unless Aaron asks Haley," Derek said and looked over at the silent Aaron, who was busy making eyes over at her table; when he'd heard Derek's remark, he'd narrowed his eyes slightly at the other boy as he fought to get back his bearings. "But he might actually have to grow a pair first." 

Aaron cleared his throat. "We have more important things to worry about than dates," he reminded him.

"Spoken like a true chicken," Derek laughed, his eyes held amusement in them as he watched Aaron glare at him. He was one of the few people who could look at an angry Aaron Hotchner in the eye and not even flinch. 

"Wait." Spencer's whole body froze with alarm, and a cold feeling overtook him. "PLEASE tell me I can go with you guys to homecoming," he pleaded. His eyes drifted over to Liam's table, where they were all "listening" to Owen babble on while Ella looked at him with love, and occasionally kissed his cheek. "Don't make me go with them." 

"They never go as a group, anyway, kid," Derek assured him and rubbed his back. "They all get dates. We'll keep an eye on them from afar." 

"If there's even any use," David added in. "Nothing else has happened." 

"Yeah," Penelope agreed, but a shiver went through her entire form. "But I have an awful feeling like something is about to," she told them worriedly. 

"That's just nerves, babygirl," Derek assured her. He reached across the table and held her hand, his eyes understanding. "If anything happens, we'll deal with it. But it'll all be okay." 

"Oh," she crooned, and brought his hand to her lips to kiss it. "I don't actually believe it, but when you say that it sounds so good I feel like it must be true," she said lovingly. Derek grinned at her and brought her hand over to his own mouth to kiss it. 

"Ugh," David groaned. "Get a room. Seriously." 

"Mmm," Penelope hummed, and wagged her eyebrows at Derek suggestively. "He might have the right idea." She winked at him and bit her lip as she ran her thumb against his palm. 

"Whelp, this was an exciting episode of "how to lose your appetite"," Emily said as she pushed her half full plate towards the middle of the table. 

"Are you worried for the game?" Aaron asked Derek. "You're down a player." 

"We got another." Derek shrugged. "He came in late, and he kind of sucks, but we have a player." 

"You know, there are one million boys playing high school football," Spencer informed the rest of the table. His eggs had begun to grow cold, and it ruined the experience for him. "Also youth sports statistics show that 71% of the youth wouldn't care if no score was kept." 

"They must be interviewing ten year olds," Derek replied dryly. 

"Not even," David added in. "I think even ten year olds would care." 

"37% said that they wouldn't want their parents to watch," Spencer continued as if the other two boys hadn't spoken. "35% said that they'd stop playing the next year." 

"David has said that every year," Derek told him and gestured towards the boy in question, who glowered at him. 

"Well, hey, next year, it'll be true." David grinned proudly.

"Unless you get a soccer scholarship, dumbass," Derek said. 

"Even then." David waved his fork full of eggs at him. "I would no longer be playing high school soccer," he pointed out. He then shoved the fork full of mashed up eggs into his mouth, he frowned, they must have grown cold. 

"284,000 boys are playing high school soccer," Spencer informed David. David just stared at him and shook his head. 

"Spencer, stick to magic tricks," he advised the boy, who frowned in response while the rest of the table laughed. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~. 

"I can't believe we need to go back to see the stupid football game," Amelia complained as they sat in a café. She had a large, pink, iced tea lemonade perched in front of her. The container had her name written on it, with a little heart dotted above the i, Spencer assumed that was why she had winked at the guy who had given it to her. He'd made eyes at her as she walked away, and still occasionally glanced at her with a look of desire. 

"It's not until 7:00, and we don't have to go," Liam told her. "I personally am considering just staying in my room for it." 

"Well, we're going to go," Ella said as she wrapped her arm around Owen. "I hear it's going to be...exciting." 

Scarlett scoffed at her. "Please." She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder, Spencer wondered why she hadn't just tied it up since it seemed to bother her so much. "Since when has a football game ever been exciting?" 

"I hear this one is going to be." Ella shrugged. 

"Do we have to go?" Owen asked Ella, his voice a whine. "I don't see the appeal of football. Hockey is actually complicated." 

"The NHL brings in $2.9 billion for their yearly revenue," Spencer informed them. He hadn't gotten anything from the café except tea and a scone, and the scone was so stale he couldn't even bite into it. It just sat on the napkin in front of him like a pathetic lump with blueberries. 

"I thought you hated sports," Amelia responded, annoyed. 

"I never said I hated them, I said I was bad at them, and I don't find them enjoyable," Spencer corrected her. He took a sip of his own tea, he enjoyed the slightly bitter taste of the hot drink, but longed for a coffee. It was an herbal blend, with no caffeine, but he reasoned that it was at least good for him. The boy who made eyes at Amelia explained it to be their "calming blend", and Spencer could have used some calm. "I still know about them, though." 

"The only reason I even see for sports being useful is to stay fit, and I do that perfectly fine without tossing a ball around and making myself look like an idiot," Amelia stated, and somehow managed to aggressively take a sip of her drink. 

"I like golf," Sawyer said as he munched on the cake pop he'd gotten. "Golf is a sport." 

"I liked it when they had the swim team," Owen added in. "I loved being part of the swim team." 

"Swim is fine," Amelia said with a flirtatious smile, Spencer saw Ella tighten her arm around Owen, she had apparently become more aware of Amelia's advances, and hadn't seemed to like it one bit. "I love swimming. It's good exercise." 

"My Father has always played golf," Sawyer continued on, and Amelia rolled her eyes. He was not the one she was interested in. "It's relaxing."

"We like bowling," Ella said as she bumped into Owen, who smiled back at her. "We go bowling all the time."

"We've gone with you," Scarlett reminded her. "You freaked out that you were going to get your fingers caught in the ball." 

Ella flushed bright red and shrugged her shoulders. "I've gotten better," she insisted. 

"I'm fine with sports," Liam chimed in, he took a sip of his own beverage, and then glanced at it with distaste as he smacked his lips together. "It serves its purpose. I just don't like when those who play them get special privileges." 

"I ice skate," Scarlett informed them, it sounded more as though she were bragging as she looked to Liam for support. "We've gone on dates to the ice rink, haven't we baby?" 

"Mhm," Liam hummed in agreement and smiled at Scarlett, who reached out for his hand. Her own had her nails painted a deep red, they were manicured to perfection. "She tried to teach me how to ice skate." 

"Ohh," Ella cooed, Scarlett tore her eyes away from her boyfriend to look at her with annoyance. "That's adorable."

"My family was able to rent out the rink," Scarlett bragged, her eyes met Ella's, as though she aimed each of her words at her. "So we wouldn't have any loud noises to disturb us." 

"Unlike with bowling," Amelia added in, Scarlett's lips turned up into a cruel smile at her friend's voice, her eyes still locked with Ella's. "There's so much noises at bowling." 

"I've never been bowling," Spencer cut in, unsure if he was supposed to speak at all. 

"You should come with us sometime," Owen told him. "It's fun." 

"Ugh, don't say that," Scarlett ordered him. "Spencer hates germs, he'd hate going to a bowling alley."

"He can bring hand wipes," Owen suggested, good naturedly. He still hadn't seemed very fond of Spencer, but Spencer appreciated the fact that he at least made an attempt to make him feel included. 

"Who wants to spend the whole time sanitizing everything?" Scarlett inquired, as though Owen had suggested something as ridiculous as them showing up in monkey costumes to rob the place. 

"I think it's a great idea," Ella said as she brought a hand up Owen's chest, her voice filled with support. "We all could use something fun to do together." 

"You guys would have fun," Scarlett corrected her. "But Spencer wouldn't." 

"How would you know?" Ella challenged her. "You haven't asked him." It was probably the most daring thing Spencer had ever heard her say. She must have been slowly getting more annoyed by the shots she kept having fired at her by mainly the two other girls. Scarlett narrowed her eyes at her, and Ella just looked away and back at Owen, who seemed oblivious. 

"So, Spencer." Liam swiftly changed the topic, and Spencer looked at him in inquiry. "Derek Morgan is playing today." 

"Ugh, who cares?" Amelia asked. Spencer had to fight back a smile, she really hated Derek, and since he knew why, it had grown more hilarious. 

"I heard his team got a horrible new player," Sawyer chimed in. "Since the other one went back home."

Spencer had to fight not to flinch, since he knew the truth.

"I heard his parents were going through some financial problems," Owen said. 

"He's dead," Ella blurted out. Everyone looked at her, some in annoyance and some in shock. Spencer was one of the shocked ones. "He died of a drug overdose," she explained.

"Oh for the love of...Ella, that's just a rumor," Scarlett explained to her. Spencer tried not to roll his own eyes. "Everyone knows that." 

"It's not a rumor," Ella insisted. "It's true. He's dead." 

"You'll believe anything," Amelia added with a roll of her own eyes. She twirled her dark brown hair with her finger and continued to shake her head, as though Ella were the dumbest being on the planet. Spencer felt his heart ache slightly, especially since Ella was correct. If the other girls weren't so cruel, their surety against her would have bordered on comical. They felt they were so wise and above everyone, but truly they had a horrendous lack of knowledge to what truly happened right before them. 

"It's kind of true, baby," Owen said, Ella stared at him in shock. "You're adorably gullible." 

"I am not," Ella argued, obviously not smitten by the terms of endearment. "I know for a fact he's dead."

"Oh really?" Scarlett asked, her tone taunting. "How do you know it for a fact?"

"I just do," Ella said simply, her glare powerful. Scarlett was unperturbed by it, and actually laughed a little bit at it. 

Spencer observed Liam, who watched the whole scene expressionless. His face seemed clouded over, as though he were in a whole other world. But that's when Spencer noticed something important, the hot drink was still in his grasp, and it shook rapidly. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"He's intimidated every time the two victims are brought up," Emily said after Spencer had told them everything. They had come back early, because Scarlett said she wanted to study if she was going to be forced to go to a football game. "That's important." 

"I'm telling you guys, it's him," Derek agreed. He was covered in sweat, when Spencer had entered the dorm room he was doing an obscenely large number of crunches while the others spoke amongst themselves...and Penelope watched him. 

"Please, for the love of God, take a shower," David pleaded with him and scooted further away from him on the bed. 

"I'm going to be playing football soon," Derek reminded him. "Why would I take a shower first?" 

"I think you should take as many showers as you need," Penelope told him, and ran a hand up the length of his bicep, he looked at her in amusement. "Especially if you have some help...and you know, I'm available." 

"Babygirl, we don't need a shower to get hot and steamy," Derek flirted with a wink. 

"But I might need a bucket to puke in," Emily quipped. 

"Don't be jealous of our love, my pet," Penelope said, and playfully kicked Emily on the head. She sat in front of Derek's bed, and grabbed the back of her head and glared at the blonde. 

"What do we even do if he is the killer?" Spencer asked softly. The whole room looked at him in surprise. "The deaths were ruled as natural and accidental." 

"We need concrete evidence," Aaron stated. "That's what I've been telling everyone. We need to build a strong case." 

"How are we going to get that?" David asked. "We'd have to physically catch him killing someone."

"Or find evidence of it on him," Aaron suggested. "Or have him admit to it."

"How would we find evidence?" Derek asked. "You'd have to break into his-." He stopped himself and looked around the room with wide eyes. 

"I've already gone through everything on his computer," Penelope reminded them. "There's nothing-OH! YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SNOOPING HIS ROOM!" She bounced up and down on the bed. "I'm the grand master of snooping! I can help!"

"Babygirl, you snoop through computers," Derek reminded her. "Physical snooping is a little different."

"I physical snoop, too!" Penelope informed him, indignant. "If you want me to find anything, through a computer or in person, I'm your girl."

"I think the job would take someone a bit more...subtle," David said carefully. "You're kind of like a bright pink warning sign." 

"I can totally do ninja spy work!" Penelope argued, her pink lips tugged downwards into a frown. "I own dark clothing! I'm elusive! Cunning! I'm an elusively cunning spy!" 

"...I think Spencer should best do it," Aaron admitted. Penelope looked at him, a wounded expression on her face. Aaron smiled carefully at her and went on to explain, "He has the best access into Liam's room." 

"I thought I was the agent," Emily reminded them. "So far I haven't done anything remotely like an agent." 

"Spencer has the best access," Aaron repeated firmly. The whole room looked mildly disappointed, and Spencer had looked terrified. 

"Um...despite the access I have, I still can't just go through his things while he's in the room," Spencer pointed out. 

"I have an idea!" Penelope cried out. She raised her hand as though she were in class, and begging for the teacher to notice her. She looked at Aaron pleadingly, and he rolled his eyes and gestured for her to continue. "Tomorrow while he and his friends are away we could break into his room!" 

"We'd still need a key," David reminded her. 

Emily grinned at Derek slyly, he looked confused at first, but then his own face broke out into a grin. He winked at her, and she let out a small laugh. "Kids," she begun, as if she were an older gentleman explaining to kids the way the game of life was played. "You don't need a key to get into somewhere." 

"She's right," Derek said and his smile just seemed to grow impossibly so. 

"You guys scare me," Spencer told them. "Do you know how many laws you've probably all broken since we've been here?" 

"Do you know how many we've broken before you transferred?" David asked dryly. 

"You know, before this I didn't even walk on private property. You know why? Because it's private property," Spencer informed them, the rest of the room looked at him with amusement. "I never even littered. If I had a candy wrapper, I'd take it to the trash can," he continued mournfully. 

"Never illegally downloaded music?" Penelope inquired. 

"I didn't even own my own laptop!" Spencer replied. 

Penelope looked at him with a mix of shock and horror. "How did you live?! How did you write essays?! You can't do school without a laptop! It's physically impossible!" 

"I meant I didn't have my own," Spencer explained. "My...my Mom," he begun to explain, and hated how everyone's face immediately turned sympathetic to him, and some even leaned in to listen intently. "She hated electronics. But my Dad insisted that we at least have a family desktop. Most of the time we'd just glare at it as it collected dust. I usually write my essays on my school computer during study hall." A fond smile found its way to his face. "My Mom used to make me handwrite them. Said it was how she used to do it." 

"That's a cruel and unusual punishment," Penelope responded. Spencer could tell by the look on her face that she actually believed it. 

"I liked it," Spencer replied. "It's how people used to do it, and it helped me practice my handwriting." 

"Dude." David looked him up and down in amusement and disbelief. "You have awful handwriting."

Spencer frowned and rubbed at his sleeved arm awkwardly. "It's because I stopped," he explained insecurely. 

"Huh," Emily mused, she had a teasing smile on her face. "Maybe you should go back to that." 

"Maybe I should just get new friends," Spencer fired back, in good nature. Despite the fact that the group would often taunt him, he knew the difference between that and the abuse he used to take to school. The almost affectionate taunts were almost welcomed compared to the jeering and laughing he used to get. Not to mention the face full of toilet water. 

"Well, hey." David opened up his arms, almost as if to welcome whatever Spencer was to throw at him. "You're a magician! Just make us disappear!" 

Spencer narrowed his eyes jokingly. "Don't tempt me," he warned.

"Just make me reappear somewhere peppy and exotic," Penelope requested. She then smirked and directed her attention to Derek. "Preferably onto something strong and stable," she purred.

"...I don't do that kind of magic," Spencer explained awkwardly. Emily, Derek, Penelope, and David all busted out laughing as Spencer sat there and looked desperately at Aaron. Aaron just rolled his eyes at the others, as his mouth desperately fought for the right to smile.

"Spencer," Emily wheezed and looked at him with fondness. "Don't ever change." 

"Uh...I've still got a few years of development ahead of me," Spencer explained to her. 

"Yeah, and you might even grow an inch," David quipped. Spencer scowled at him. 

"Can we please stay focused?" Aaron quickly got the words out before Spencer could whine about how he was going to grow soon. He should have never shown his weakness around the two other boys, they took advantage of the opportunity to tease the younger man way too much. 

"Right, of course." Emily nodded, but still looked amused. "While Spencer is out with them, we could break into Liam's room and go through his stuff."

"...I don't agree to this," Spencer informed them, he looked anxiously around the room. "That's not a good plan!"

"It's a great plan!" Penelope disagreed. 

"It's a very bad plan! What if we come back early?" He inquired. 

"Then you run interference until we can get out of the room," Aaron suggested.

"How on earth would I do that?!"

"Show them a magic trick!" David joked. Spencer had been tempted to throw his pillow at him, considering it seemed to be a socially acceptable reaction in the group. 

"I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be impressed," he replied instead. 

"Man, you're a genius," Derek pointed out. "Do something genius!" He'd made a twirling hand motion around his head, which had made Spencer stare at him as though he were a crazy person. Derek just rolled his eyes and let his hands fall back down on his lap. 

"We'll keep in touch through cell phones," Penelope suggested. She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, it was one of the latest ones with all the new apps and rest in a bright pink bedazzled case that reflected the light into their eyes. 

"...If you can keep that in your pocket why do you keep a container of pills in your bra?" David asked suddenly. 

"Because my pockets are already full," Penelope replied, as though it were obvious. She pulled out a pack of bubblegum from one, a keychain from the other, an action figure from the other one...

"We get it," David said with a hand held up to halt her. She then proceeded to put all but her cell phone back into her pockets. 

"Wait...you do have a cell phone, right?" Emily asked Spencer. Everyone looked at him as though if he said no the apocalypse would begin, and the world would fall apart and plunge into the sun, all because Spencer hadn't purchased a piece of technology. 

"Mhm!" But luckily, that hadn't needed to happen. Spencer stuck his hand into his pocket, pushed aside the little bag of pretzels he'd shoved in, and reached next to it to pull out...something that at least slightly resembled a cell phone.

"...that's not a cell phone," Penelope said. "That, my dear, is a fossil." Everyone in the room snorted and tried to hold back their own laughter while Spencer stared at his phone in confusion. 

Spencer's cell phone was...well...old. It was thick and felt like a brick in the palm of his hand. If he were to drop the phone it was more likely to break whatever it fell on than it was to smash itself. It flipped open and almost never had a signal. The screen was giant, yet for some reason the sides of it were just a black rimming so the actual screen you saw was a tiny little square that Spencer had to squint to read. 

But despite all of that, he still inquired, "What's wrong with it?" 

"Ugh. Everything," Penelope answered. Spencer's frown deepened as he continued to look at his long used cell phone with confusion. "It's an insult to everything about recent technology." 

"But it works..." Spencer responded sullenly. 

"Sure it does, and robbing banks is a great way to get money. Still doesn't mean you should do it." Penelope begun to dig through her pockets again while Spencer looked at her, insulted. 

"I don't think this is exactly equal to that..." 

"Here!" Penelope cheered as she pulled another cell phone out of her pocket. This one had just had a purple protector case around it, so that it wouldn't get scratched. "You can have my backup phone." 

"...You have a backup phone?" David asked in mild surprise. His expression barely changed, he was probably used to all of it. 

"Of course I have a backup phone," Penelope replied with exasperation. As though David were a complete idiot for assuming any different. "If someone kidnaps me and they search me for my cell phone, they find the first one and take it from me. But little do they know that I have a second cell phone! I am then able to call for help, and be on the 9 o'clock news."

"Babygirl, I don't know if that's something to strive for," Derek said, he looked highly amused and fond of the smaller blonde, who still held out her phone to Spencer. 

"But if I take your phone then you won't have your backup one," Spencer reminded her. "You'd also have to pay for me." 

"I have unlimited everything," Penelope said with a shrug. "Also, I can survive on just one phone...I suppose. I'll live. I can always get another, my parents would never notice."

"Um...okay," Spencer said, he still wore a confused expression on his face as he stood and walked over to grab the cell phone. 

"I have a multi-colored assortment of phone cases, if you'd like to switch it out," Penelope informed him cheerfully as he poked the phone with his finger.

"No, this is great! Purple is my favorite color!" He told her. He looked at the phone with distaste, he didn't know on earth to use it. There was just one giant button at the bottom. How was he supposed to operate something that didn't even have buttons?!

"Oh! Is it really?! Because I have this really cute purple scarf that-." Penelope was cut off by Aaron. 

"Can we please stay focused?" He asked. Penelope looked sheepish and Spencer walked over on his bed and sat back down as he continued to fiddle with the piece of technology. "So, the plan is tomorrow while Spencer is out with Liam and his friends we get into his room? How is he not going to notice everything is out of place?!" 

"Oh! I know! I have an Aunt that goes through all of my Uncle's stuff to make sure he's not cheating on her," Penelope begun to explain. "She'd take pictures of his stuff before she'd snoop, so she'd know how to put all of it back exactly where it was and he'd never know about it!" 

"...Your Aunt sounds like a lovely woman," David told her sarcastically. 

"This is the stupidest plan of all time," Derek said. 

"I'll go in alone," Emily told them. They all looked at her in surprise. "I can get in, and I can get out. I've raided the teacher's lounge, and Mrs. Benson's room before and no one even realized I was there."

"...Why did you raid the teacher's lounge?" David asked. 

"Mrs. Benson smokes," Emily answered. "Also, they keep really good food in the teacher's lounge and I didn't feel like going out for snacks." 

"...Is that where you got those really delicious granola bars and greek yogurt?" Penelope inquired. 

"That and the imported chocolates," Emily said and smiled. Penelope shook her head, she looked scandalized. 

"You stole food!" 

"They had plenty left!" 

"Let's just stay on topic." Aaron held two fingers to the bridge of his nose. Spencer couldn't help but think he was going to develop an ulcer much too young if he kept on being so serious. "Emily, you can go in alone, and Spencer will text you when they start to come back." 

"Alright." Emily nodded. "Score." 

Spencer groaned and fell back on his bed, his hand with the phone flopped uselessly beside him. "This is going to end so badly." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The football game had a...rough start. David's sarcastic comments about how terribly they were doing brightened the mood slightly, but the fact that Derek looked as though he'd wanted to murder his teammates instantly darkened it once again. 

"I thought he said he was going to nail this," Emily said. They were all seated on the bleachers, Penelope had brought popcorn with them. Spencer had slightly disliked her for it since he'd had a kernel stuck in his mouth since the start of the game. No matter how much he nudged it with his tongue it remained. 

"He always says that," David reminded her. 

"This team always beats us," Aaron informed Spencer. "We've won once, and it was by a hair." 

Spencer looked at Aaron sadly, and the other boy frowned in concern. "What's wrong?" Aaron asked him. 

"I don't know what's happening," Spencer explained mournfully. Emily choked on her popcorn, David shook his head in amusement, and Penelope looked at him with pity. 

"We're losing," David told him. "Badly." 

"Well, yeah." Spencer nodded. "I got that part of it." 

"You were quoting football statistics the other day," Penelope reminded him. "How do you not know how it's played?" 

"I've read about the statistics...but I've never actually seen a football game," he explained. The crowd made a noise of displeasure, and he flinched. 

"You've never been to a football game?" Aaron asked. 

Spencer shook his head in the negative. "No. Believe it or not, but a kid like me going to a football game could possibly be bad for my health." He'd expected an amused laugh, but everyone just looked at him sadly. 

"How could anyone hurt you?" Penelope inquired. "You're adorable. It would be like kicking a puppy." 

"Ah, you didn't have to worry about that at this school, man," David assured him as he continued to watch the game. Spencer assumed based on crowd reaction that something preferable was happening. "Anyone messes with you and we'll kick their ass while Penelope takes pictures." 

All of a sudden there was cheering on their side, David and all the others stood and begun to clap, so Spencer did as well. He then sat once the adequate time of celebration had passed. It was an odd thing to do, really. Spencer had never enjoyed sports. His Father had tried to force him to play, but he was consistently terrible and the man simply gave up on him. He mainly ignored Spencer after that. Spencer wondered if he'd been better, more normal, if his Father would have liked him more. 

His Mother had never liked the idea of him in sports. She felt they were much too dangerous for him, and she could see how much he'd hated it. She'd told him once she would have let him play if he'd shown any joy in partaking of them, but he never did. Spencer used to walk in, after his Father had forced some athletic event unto him, miserable. He'd have his hair in his eyes, sweat through his shirt, bottom lip twitching, eyes would look sadly up at his Father who would then make an excuse about being far too busy to do anything else. William Reid had always been too busy for anything his son enjoyed. Even though Diana Reid was ill, she still always made time for him. It was saddening, actually. That Spencer's Mother, as her health fell apart, still made time for him. But his Father couldn't spare him a second. Spencer had even memorized all of his law books in a futile attempt to impress him.

"What the hell?" David's soft whisper broke him out of his thoughts. The whole crowd seemed confused, as well. One of the guys from their team had stumbled off the bench, and had walked to the middle of the field. He hadn't been prompted to do so, and the referee blew his whistle. The boy continued to stumble around and look around himself in confusion.

"Is he okay?" Penelope asked in horror. The boy reached out and grabbed at Derek's arm. Derek looked at him in confusion, as the boy's hand went to his throat. He looked as though he were to try to form words, but he couldn't properly do so. He just continued to gesture to his throat. A split second later, with no warning, his body collapsed onto the ground, and seizured terribly. The crowd let out a gasp of horror. Spencer just watched in terror as all the adults gathered around the boy and screams to call 911 were heard. 

"Oh no," Penelope whimpered. "Not again. No. No." She shook her head rapidly as tears fell down her cheeks like rain. Mascara had left deep black tracks with them, but she paid no heed. 

"It doesn't make sense," David said desperately. Spencer just watched in horror, as did the rest. "It's only been...it hasn't been...it doesn't make sense," the boy's voice had been thick with emotion, and Spencer hadn't a clue what to do. 

He'd felt his world grow dizzy as the body stopped twitching and just rest there, much like Kathryne's had. In the field. Where not only their school, but the other school, would be forever haunted with the memory. He knew it right then and there that the boy was dead. He knew no matter what anyone else said that it wasn't an accident. It wasn't natural. 

"NO!" Penelope gasped out and sobbed. Emily had thrown an arm around her, her own mouth popped open and eyes wide with horror. Penelope put her head on Emily's chest and cried. 

"This can't be happening..." Spencer had heard somebody speak. He wasn't quite sure who it was. The voice sounded foreign to him, as though he'd never heard it before. "It hasn't been four weeks. This doesn't match up. The pattern! It's no longer a pattern!" The voice had grown higher pitched with panic, and he could hear it break up with emotion. It wasn't until he felt a hand on his back and a hushed voice attempting to settle him back down that he realized it was him. 

"Spencer, come on, let's get up and out of here." That was Aaron, he could hear the horror in the boy's voice, the trauma. But he knew Aaron was attempting to be strong, attempting to help and guide him. But Spencer hadn't wanted to move.

It was then, almost at once, that they all cast their eyes to the field at the same time as Derek cast his eyes to the bleacher. Their horror and despair all mingled together, the sense of mourning overtook their bodies. But terror, terror was another emotion that rest in their souls.

Because they knew that someone in the crowd was the killer.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempers rise, secrets are revealed, and help is given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mildly violent imagery

The next day hadn't gone as planned. The plan for the "investigation" in Liam's room had been scrapped, and an air of despair had hung above all their heads. The part that had amazed Spencer the most was that no one seemed to pay attention to the similarities between Kathryne's death and the newest football player's. He'd found out the boy's name was Keith Cameron. The whole team mourned, as did the entire school, but no one seemed to make any connection about the similarities between the two deaths. It was like an air of ignorance had wafted through the school. 

Spencer hadn't been shocked about the ruling of the death to be natural; but he was shocked at the excuse Erin Strauss had used. She had said he'd had an asthma attack. The worst part was, everyone had bought it. Keith really did have asthma, and Spencer knew himself that lack of oxygen could cause seizures. It was all and all a probable cause of death...that was, if there hadn't been a similar death mere weeks before it. But naturally, no one seemed to put the two together, no one had wanted to, so they had accepted it. They'd even talked about a potential bake sale to raise money for asthma research in honor of it. 

The group had barely spoken, which was one of the things that concerned Spencer the most. The time before the group had been scared, but they hadn't ceased communication. But after the latest death, the whole next day seemed just hold a black cloud above all their heads. It was odd. Spencer had expected someone to speak up, to say something. But no one had said a word over breakfast, it had been dead silence. That was, until Keith's girlfriend had burst into tears and ran out of the dining hall with her friends chasing after her, they called her name with urgency, the smacks of feet echoed through the silent dining hall like gun shots had been fired. 

That night Spencer had considered going through the woods and finding Derek's fort, but he felt frozen to his own bed as the horrible memory replayed in his mind. He'd barely slept, and his dreams were plagued by nightmares. Bodies that twitched and looked upon him with dead eyes. Kathryne's lips had opened and said his name, a breath of a word through her blue lips in one of them, her dead eyes had looked right into his own; so void of substance, of life, of a soul. For the soul was a truly confusing thing, and just as easily as it was put in a body, did it leave it. They were left no longer people, but shells. Casings. Is that truly what they all were? Their outsides were just shells to whatever it was on the inside. Everyone would gather around to look at their loved ones in a casket; look at the shell that had held the only thing really important, and they would pretend it mattered. But no matter what, no one could breathe the breath of life back into that body.

The shell was all they'd had left, and soon, it would rot away. 

But deep down, Spencer hadn't believed all that was true. They said that when a person died, they would live forever through those who loved them. Perhaps it was really once a person passes they live to become a part of you. Your soul opens up, and gratefully accepts all that the other had shown you. Maybe no one truly ever died.

It wasn't a very scientific thought, but it was a nice one. 

~.~.~.~.~.

The shrill sound of the alarm had awoken Spencer from his restless sleep. He'd growled low in his throat, he hadn't slept at all, and the insane shriek was bringing on a severe headache. Spencer's vision swirled once he opened his heavy eyelids, and spots overtook it, but he forced them all away, and forcefully tossed his blankets off of him and onto the hardwood floor. The blanket landed haphazardly, and part of it still got stuck on his sock. He had to kick the air a dozen times until it finally came off, and he hopped out of bed. His socked feet still made a loud smack on the ground, the other two roommates looked at him, bleary eyed and concerned. 

Spencer ignored the two other boys, and stomped over to his dresser drawers and tugged one of the drawers open. He hadn't a clue why he was so loud and upset. He was tired, scared, and wanted nothing more than to go home. But he knew he couldn't. Anger usually wasn't a coverup for his fears and emotions, but it seemed like a worthy substitute, at least for the moment; in the early morning where he was so tired that all he wanted was a pot of delicious dark fluid to energize his body, and awaken him from his sleepy, slow, hell. 

"Kid, don't be so loud," Derek demanded of him. Spencer turned away from his clothes and glared. Derek had sat up in bed, and rubbed the back of his neck where an obvious ache was. He never quite slept normally, and he always had aches. "I barely slept."

"Heh, that's funny," Spencer begun as he pulled out a clean uniform. It was wrinkled, but it always seemed to be. "Because your snoring kept me up most of the night." 

Derek raised an eyebrow at him, and looked behind himself to Aaron, who looked equally confused. "I don't snore," Derek argued. 

"Yes you do," Aaron disagreed. "But it wasn't any louder than usual." 

"Thanks," Derek said sarcastically. He turned his attention back to Spencer, who had rolled his eyes at them, and had gone to storm out of the room to hit the showers. "What crawled up your ass and died?" He asked.

Spencer halted, his angry shield wavered momentarily. He turned to stare at Derek. "What?" 

"I asked you what crawled up your ass and died," Derek repeated. 

"It's an expression," Aaron explained, obviously he hadn't thought Spencer had gotten what Derek had meant.

"I know what it is, and it's disturbing," Spencer responded in disgust, his nose crinkled up, and his eyes still staring down Derek, who looked completely exasperated. 

"Seriously, man," Derek begun and continued to look at Spencer as though he were another being who crashed down to earth. "I don't get you sometimes."

Spencer just shrugged, and marched out of the room. He had a shower to take.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer sighed as he put his uniform on in his shower stall. The smoke fogged around him, and the amount of hot water he'd used left red patches that covered large portions of his skin. He'd needed the heat as a distraction from all the facts, statistics, and probabilities that ran through his head. It was odd, because his facts usually comforted him. Statistics. Statistics had always been a distraction for him. Something he was a master of, something he enjoyed learning about. Everyone was part of a statistic, and no matter what, he could always prove that. Everyone was part of something, and no one was ever alone.

But his statistics had not been able to comfort him at that moment. They just seemed to taunt him, to tumble through his head so fast that he felt the second he opened his mouth they'd just all fall out. None of his peers knew what it was like. To have so much going on in your head that you just couldn't physically hold it all in, and then when you let it all out everyone thinks you're a freak. 

He had an eidetic memory. The images he'd seen since he arrived at school would forever haunt his dreams. No matter how hard he could try to escape them, they would forever and always be carried with him. 

His Father hadn't even called to check in on him. That was one of the things that had hurt the worst, that Spencer hadn't gotten a single call from home in the four weeks he'd been at school. He was pretty sure his Father hadn't missed him at all. William Reid had probably gone home, and thought this would be the end of his problems. That he'd send Spencer off to college after boarding school, and possibly only have to deal with him on holidays. 

That thought alone made Spencer angrily punch the side of the stupid cubed in wall. The smooth surface smacked against the bone of his fist, and he let out a squeak of pain. He really hadn't thought that move through. 

"Spencer?!" In the stall next to him, he heard Derek's voice. Spencer shut his eyes and closed his fist as he tried to breathe through the pain. He'd dropped his uniform jacket onto the wet, tiled floor and whimpered at the fact he'd have to either attempt to dry it or grab another. Today wasn't going to be his day. It was odd how pitiful mornings always seemed to shape them.

He bent down to pick up his jacket, and the curtain that covered him was thrown open to reveal a soaking wet Derek Morgan with just a towel around the lower half of his body. Spencer looked at the sculpted body for a half a second of surprise, and then looked away to give the other man his own privacy. 

"Kid, what the hell was that?" Derek asked. Spencer insecurely wrapped his arms around his unbuttoned shirt that only concealed his arms. Derek just raised an amused eyebrow as Spencer shied away from him. He loosely tied a knot in his towel, so he wouldn't have to hold it up. 

"...I...um...have seemed to accidentally hit my fist against the wall," Spencer explained and gave the stall wall a little tap, as though Derek wouldn't catch on to what he spoke of. 

"You...accidentally hit the wall?" Derek inquired, obviously he wasn't buying it. 

"Once you get some clothes on I'd...um...love to discuss this further," Spencer squeaked, one hand still covered his chest. 

"Seriously, kid." Derek looked at him with concern, and took a step near Spencer, which made the boy take a step back. Derek just rushed even closer to him and took hold over Spencer's wrist, his hand especially red on the knuckles, and when he focused on it, he found that it throbbed. "There a reason you're punching walls?" 

"Frustrated," Spencer answered, honest and meek. His former bravado that he'd felt earlier had faded the moment he was trapped in a shower stall with a much bigger man, he just felt tiny and alone. Home-sick and scared. 

"We all feel that way, kid," Derek responded with understanding, and offered Spencer a small, comforting smile. He raised his other hand to give him a pat on the shoulder, and released his fist. "Should be fine," he informed him. "If it's still hurting once you're dressed we'll ice it." Spencer nodded his understanding, and Derek took a step back, his feet splashed puddles on the wet tile. "I'm going to get out of here before anyone else walks in and gets the wrong idea," he said with a grin. Spencer couldn't help but smile back as Derek left, shut the curtain, and gave him privacy to finish button his shirt...and to zip up his pants. He hadn't even noticed that they were unzipped and unbuttoned.

Great. Derek had seen his bare chest and his Star Trek boxer shorts. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had dreaded breakfast. The one the day before had been dead silence, and he was afraid it would be a repeat of that. He used to enjoy silence, it was one of the reasons he'd lock himself away in his bedroom. Spencer liked some peace and quiet, just himself and his books. But since he'd been away at school he'd grown accustomed to the noise. The thoughtless debates that surrounded him, Derek and Penelope's ridiculous and inappropriate amounts of flirtation, it had filled a void. He'd still like more quiet, more time to himself, but being around people...people that weren't insulting him...it took away his loneliness. 

The table's smooth surface was unusually covered in crumbs, as though they hadn't been cleaned up since the night prior. There was even a big hunk of a leftover roll left in the middle of it. 

"Well," David begun as they sat down, Spencer apprehensive. "As you can see, we're fighting hard to pass our next health inspection," he finished sarcastically. 

Spencer couldn't help the grin that snuck onto his features, as he attempted to not actually touch his hand to the table. After a day of silence, it was nice to hear David's dry humor. The others didn't seem to think as much, as they pretty much seemed indifferent to the statement. 

"At least Spencer appreciates the lovely entertainment I bring with me," David continued on, and nodded towards Spencer with appreciation. 

Spencer grinned back at him, and then turned his attention back to the food that coated their table. His hands twitched as the desperate need to clean it all up and make it go away took over him. It was disgusting. The amount of germs that had settled on the food as it sat there overnight...how it all just gathered there, and festered. There was a hunk of beef right next to his tray, and he felt his right eye twitch. 

"Somebody get Spencer a wet-nap and some hand sanitizer before he suffers a breakdown," David, once again, seemed to have been the only one capable of speaking. 

"Josie quit," Aaron finally spoke. Spencer honestly would have looked at him, given him his attention, but he felt as though he and the piece of beef were having a staring competition...he also felt as though he were losing. It was like the thing had grown an eye. "She would have been the one to clean this up."

"So, what?" Emily asked, she swiped at her spot with a napkin. "They couldn't get someone else to do it?"

"Hey, David." Derek was grinning like a fool, which was rarely a good sign. "Ten bucks if you eat the meat." 

"Don't!" Penelope cried out in disgust. 

"Make it fifty."

"You're dreaming!" 

"Both of you stop," Aaron ordered them both, though half hearted. He looked as though he wanted to see if David would do it as much as the rest of them. But his forced maturity shoved his desire down.

"Would you rather sit here and have an amazing, and intriguing, discussion on the wonders of mathematics?" David inquired dryly, and then looked at Spencer. "Spencer here could head it."

Spencer narrowed his eyes at im in consideration. "That's both a compliment and an insult."

David grinned. "Is that so?"

"You're saying I'm intelligent enough to lead a discussion on mathematics, but boring enough to actually lead said discussion," Spencer stated proudly, as though he had done something quite impressive. David just continued to grin at him, while the rest of the table shook their heads.

"So, are we just going to keep ignoring the elephant in the room?" Emily blurted out. The whole mood at the table shifted, much to Spencer's despair. Any sign of lighthearted humor vanished, and left the dull sense of woe that they had all felt the day prior. 

"Keith's asthma had never been an issue," Derek informed them all, his voice stiff and serious. His face was blank, except an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes. It was odd with Derek, he could shield you from his emotions at a drop of a hat. It was as though he'd been trained to do so. "He barely ever even had to use his inhaler."

"We all know the asthma excuse is bullshit," Emily added in. "He died the same exact way that Kathryne died, it was damn near identical." 

"Not a bad excuse, though," Spencer said. They all looked at him as though he must be joking, so Spencer decided to clarify what he'd meant, "While asthma is not directly linked to seizures, asphyxiation from an asthmatic attack could lead to one. Deprivation of oxygen in general could."

"Do you have any idea what he was given?" Aaron inquired. 

"My best guess? Cyanide poisoning. Possibly, anyway. It causes convulsions, and death by asphyxiation," Spencer explained. Once he saw that everyone still looked quite interested, he continued on. "Cyanide can become apparent with testing, and it should be something that toxicology picks up on; but given the situation we're in, it's safe to say it won't. It comes in different forms, but my best guess was that Keith ingested it. Reaction time is as little as one to fifteen minutes. In a gaseous form, death can be almost instantaneous." 

"You told us a little bit about this awhile ago," Derek recalled. "Anything else we should know about it?" 

"Uhh...if a victim is to be saved, treatment must take place in the first thirty minutes after the poison is given," Spencer recalled, as he tried to bring back his knowledge on the topic, everything he had ever read on it. "Many patients need aggressive supportive care. Testing can be done to confirm that it's a cyanide poisoning, but usually not in time to do any good," he continued gravely. "The antidotes are often dangerous, and need to be used with extreme caution. It also sometimes has a bitter almond smell to it, but not everyone can detect it." 

"Do you think it's his or her drug of choice?" Emily inquired. Spencer had to appreciate how passionate she seemed about whatever was happening. He'd learned that once Emily had a mission, she took it very seriously. 

Spencer shrugged. "We can assume it," he replied, unsure of himself. "I feel as though it has been used in all three deaths."

"What is this? An Agatha Christie book?" David quipped with an eye roll. Derek eyed him suspiciously.

"Dude, do you have a fetish for the mystery genre?" Derek asked him. David looked at him in confusion. "You've literally been referencing different parts of it this entire time." 

"Please, let's just stop there," Emily halted them, her hand held in the air before David could even speak. "I don't want to know anything about David Rossi's fetishes." 

"You wish you knew more about my fetishes," David fired back at her. Emily gave him a look that was caught between offense and disbelief. 

"I don't want to know about anyone's fetishes," Aaron blurted out, and looked at them all sternly. No one seemed to take him seriously. 

"I bet you've got some freaky ones," David drawled out at him, Penelope giggled and Emily just rolled her eyes. "It's always the reserved ones." 

"Man, if you could have only heard the dream he had a bit ago," Derek begun and chuckled, especially at the scandalized look that took over Aaron's usually blank features. 

Spencer frowned in confusion. "You mean his nightmare?" He asked, he recalled that Aaron had been making noises in his sleep. He'd wondered why, since he could see Derek up, that the boy had made no move to wake him, and had shaken his head when Spencer had gone to. 

"Kid." Derek tried, and failed, to conceal his chuckles. "That wasn't a nightmare." 

"That's enough," Aaron stopped him, his face had turned slightly red. The table had seemed to take great joy in his misfortune, except Spencer, Spencer still hadn't a clue what Derek meant. "We're discussing more important things," he reminded them, hoping to sober the table up. It was incredible the lack of attention span they all seemed to possess. 

Spencer just continued to stare between Derek and Aaron in confusion, and Derek looked at him and just smirked smugly. He raised his hand, and Spencer could only manage a squeak of horror before it came down to ruffle his hair. 

"Spencer," Aaron continued on, as though Derek hadn't just assaulted Spencer's poor hair, that now stuck out in all types of odd directions. "How much do you know about poisons?" 

Spencer bit his lip and went through his knowledge on the subject. "A reasonable amount, I suppose," he replied. "It intrigued me to some degree, as most things do. But there are probably those out there who know more." 

"Well, whatever this guy is doing," Emily's voice was wrought with despair, any form of good humor gone, as though it had never even existed in her form. Her hands were folded on the table, knuckles white from how hard she pressed them together. She must have had a thing for handwashing, or the cold air got to her badly, because they were cracked. It was also obvious she picked at her nails, something Spencer had learned to be her nervous habit. "He's getting worse. This made no sense this time. He stuck to a schedule the first two times...now..." She trailed off, let her words hang in the air, as though they were forming a dark cloud above all their heads. 

"What does this mean?" Penelope asked, voice small and frightened. "Does this mean it'll get worse?" 

"Well, I'll say one thing, this guy isn't afraid to put on a show for the public," David stated. "Not just a show, but a second screening of it." 

"Do we still think it's Liam?" Emily asked. Spencer felt his whole body stiffen. "Did anyone keep an eye on him at the game?" 

"I-I didn't see him," Penelope stuttered out.

"I'm such an idiot," Spencer said with self-deprecation. The whole table looked at him in confusion, it was such an odd statement for such a smart boy to make. "Why didn't I go with him? What was I thinking? I didn't even look for him in the crowd!" He felt his breathing start to quicken as his body panicked. It had been his fault.

"Woah!" Derek reached out and put a hand on his back, and another on his arm. "Calm down, Spencer. Breathe, you're going to draw attention to yourself," he warned. 

"Spencer," Aaron's stern voice cut through Spencer. "It wasn't your fault." 

Spencer looked at him, eyes a mess of emotion. "I can't forget," he told them brokenly, Aaron's face softened. "I-I keep trying to. But I-." His voice was cut off, as a humiliating sob bubbled up his throat that he attempted to swallow down.

"None of us can, kid," Derek told him, hand still on his back, it rubbed soothing circles. "Eidetic memory or not, when it comes to those things, we all have an elephant's memory."

"How have no kids gotten taken home yet?" Emily asked with disgust. "We've witnessed two deaths in four weeks. You'd think some parents would be a tad bit perturbed."

"Maybe they don't know," Penelope suggested. "I mean, mine haven't even called about it." 

"It's probably being kept under wraps," Aaron reasoned. He shoveled his eggs around on his plate, he obviously possessed as little appetite as Spencer. 

Spencer hadn't been able to eat practically the whole day prior. He'd been getting thinner since he'd arrived at boarding school, since Kathryne. It seemed like after an event like that, your stomach just could never seem to settle. He'd always been skinny, but his skin had begun to look as though it stretched thin above the sharp points of his bones, as though they were fit to burst through at any moment. Like a thin sheet, put too much pressure on it and you'll just tear right through. 

He knew he must have been a sight. The dark circles under his eyes contrasted with the sickly pale tone of the rest of his face, no red blotches of life on his cheeks, his lips milky white, his hair frizzed, fingernails overgrown, and has hands always seemed to tremble terribly. When he reached for his orange juice, they shook so badly that the orange drink splattered onto the table, it begun to dribble off, and took some of the leftover bread crumbs with it. 

"I still say we should be doing something about Lockwood," Derek suggested, his eyes directed towards Liam's table with enough intensity to scare away the average man. Liam didn't even seem to notice the eyes on him, he was carefully cutting into his poached eggs. 

"We have no proof Liam did this," Aaron reminded him. Derek turned his head to give the boy a sharp look, it was obvious where he stood on the matter. Spencer couldn't really blame him, he'd lost two friends. 

"So what?" Emily inquired. "We go digging for other suspects?" 

"I think it's naive to limit it to just one," Aaron said simply, he expertly ignored the daggers Derek shot at him. "We could miss the true perpetrator."

"Or we'd be so focused trying to find other people that match, that we'd let this one slide," Derek countered. "Spencer thinks it's Liam, right?" He turned to look at the boy, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Um...I...I...he's shown revealing reactions...but I don't possess proof of anything," Spencer stuttered out. Sometimes, with Derek's smiles and joking personality, it was hard to forget how intimidating the boy was. 

"That's why we were going to break into his room," Emily reminded them, she drummed her fingers impatiently on the table. "Kind of seems like a stupid idea in the light of day." 

"Well, to be fair, we're seventeen and fifteen years olds trying to solve a murder case," David responded dryly. "Of course we're going to be stupid." 

"Hey, I'm eighteen next sunday," Emily reminded him. "I'll be the adult here," she said proudly. 

"Yeah, then you can actually legally purchase your cigarettes," David said dryly. Emily gave him a thumbs up, and he chuckled. 

"Your birthday is October 12th?" Emily nodded to answer Spencer's inquiry. "Mine's the 9th! We're close together!" He informed them all, rather cheerfully. Though, he couldn't put much effort into it. Spencer's birthday had never been exactly a happy occurrence. 

"Your birthday is the 9th?" Penelope asked, she sounded less than thrilled, and her voice shook. Spencer looked at her in confusion, and slowly nodded his head. Penelope's eyes were welled up with tears, and her breath was labored. Spencer instantly regretted his origin of birth if it caused her such distress. "Everything is wrong!" She announced. The whole table looked at her in concern, Derek straightened his back up to a perfect line, and he raised his hand to the table, as though he were ready to shoot up at any moment. 

"What's wrong?" David asked her in concern. He looked around the room, no one had noticed the scene that had started to occur. 

"Everything's wrong!" Penelope tearfully declared, her shaky hands reached into her jacket pocket to pull out a clump of tissues, which she patted underneath her eyes with as tears started to rain down her face, little black flakes of mascara were taken down with them. "People are dying, my friends are in danger, AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE A GIFT FOR MY FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY!" She sobbed. 

"I-I don't need a gift!" Spencer rushed to assure her, unable to fathom why that would ever upset her. 

"Babygirl," Derek's voice was soft and soothing. He reached his hand across the table, reached for one of her hands and peeled it from the tissue. "It's not for awhile, hm? We can get pretty boy something real nice before then," he assured her. 

"I can't do this," she whimpered. She continued to dab underneath her eyes, her clumps of mascara tainted the bright white soft sheet. "I can't be my sparkly self when all this is happening." 

"Babygirl," Derek's voice was still soft, kind. It amazed Spencer how physically intimidating he was, but under all that was...this. "It's all going to be okay, I promise." 

Penelope sniffled, but a tiny smile tugged at her lips. It was then Spencer really took in how much the happenings must have drained her, the bubbly blonde wasn't even wearing her brightly colored lipstick. "You can't promise that."

"I can, and I will. Mama knows I never break a promise." Derek looked at her with endearment, and rose a hand to reach across the table to run a hand through a stray strand of blonde hair, he tucked it behind her ear. She smiled at him, watery, eyelashes splashed tears onto the lens of her glasses. 

"Mama knows," she confirmed. The smile they shared was soft, and warm. Spencer couldn't help but think it was lucky they'd both met one another. They brought out the best in each other. Penelope brought out Derek's soft, kindness, and Derek without fail always managed to calm Penelope, and make her feel like the most beautiful woman in the room. 

"We can do this," Emily said firmly. "Like we've already discussed, we all have different skills. Maybe we're just not using them correctly."

"Penelope," Aaron addressed the blonde, who shifted her vision away from Derek to show he had her attention. "I think we've already confirmed the fact that you can hack into anything, correct?" 

"Give me Satan's IP, and I'll hack into Hell," she quipped. The rest of the table chuckled in delight. 

Aaron smiled, Spencer had noticed he could be quite tender with Penelope. "Not necessary, but appreciated." His face grew more somber. "I need you to dig up everything humanly possible on Liam Lockwood." Penelope opened her mouth to reply, but Aaron cut her off quickly, "I know you've dug up a lot, but I want you to get everything humanly possible on him. No stone left unturned."

Penelope's whole face brightened, and her smile was one of incredulity and joy. "You want me to hack into the land that should be left unhacked?!" 

Aaron reluctantly nodded, but quickly clarified, "But I don't want you to get caught. So only hack where you know you won't." 

She looked mildly put out. "My dear, sweet, Aaron," she released his name with a gust of air. "Have you not known me for many years, my sweet? Not even the FBI could catch me."

"Yeahhh," David stretched out the word. "I wouldn't test that theory if I were you." 

"Dollface, with all I've hacked into, the FBI is probably beside themselves," she informed them confidently. The signs of her former panic still evident, but her carefree persona seemed to take over as she was placed in her element.

"Well, in that case, some extra home-work would be looking into other potential suspects," Aaron advised.

"I'd do a background check on all his friends," Emily suggested, she then directed her attention to Spencer. "You said they all have grudges against the sports teams, right?" 

"Amelia and Scarlett, mostly," Spencer answered. "Sawyer seems to have the least of a grudge, and Owen is pretty mild. Ella kind of seems indifferent." 

"I don't know much about Ella," Penelope mused. "She keeps to herself." 

"Well, just to be safe, dig into this," Aaron told her. He pondered for a moment. "Hey, Derek?" The other boy looked at him in inquiry. "Was there anyone rejected from the football team last year? Or early this year?" 

"Tryouts start before school," Derek answered, mildly confused. "The team was already put together by the time school started, so I'd assume someone was turned down. Why?" 

"Because maybe that's why he has such a grudge," Emily spoke up before Aaron could, as she was able to follow his lead. "He could have been rejected by the team." 

"Then why kill Kathryne?" David inquired.

"She could have been a trial run," Spencer contemplated. "To master his craft."

"So practice the poison on Kathryne, see it work, and then go after his true target," David said. "Sounds about right." 

"I'll get you the names," Derek begrudgingly agreed, his eyes cast another glance to Liam's table. "But I feel like we're wasting time." 

"We're covering all our bases," Aaron corrected. 

Derek opened his mouth to talk, but he was cut off by Cruz demanding quiet in the dining hall. "After breakfast everyone will meet together for an assembly! We have an announcement!"

"Oh no," David groaned. "This can't be good."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

He was right, it wasn't. 

Erin Strauss had marched in, and had given the announcement that, while homecoming still was happening, that the homecoming football game was cancelled. 

Spencer had instantly moved away from Derek, who looked angered by the entire announcement. The school's reasoning was the recent event that had happened at the game, and the fact the team was down a player. The homecoming dance was that weekend, and it would commence, but without the game the night prior. Derek was fuming. 

Spencer decided it was best to keep his distance from the other boy that day. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer sat in his AP English class, bored out of his mind. Classes used to be something he enjoyed at school, a time where he'd get to sit and learn. But after years of staying back in classes, the material being some that he'd learned years prior, it had started to pick away at his spirit. He learned nothing, thus it just seemed to be a grand waste of his time. 

That was why he felt both grateful, nervous, and suspicious when his English teacher, Ms. Sanders, announced that his presence had been requested outside of class, and that he'd been excused. 

Spencer had warily stood from his seat, gathered his textbook, and quietly left class. Emily had been in AP English, as well, and watched him go with concern. He gave her a tiny little shrug as he went to exit the class, and she simply just stared as he left. 

Spencer opened the thick door, and meekly poked his head out of it before the rest of his body had followed. He couldn't hold back his surprise at who stood before him, for it was Mason. His old, worn, faded jeans had dirt on the knees, his thick brown sneakers had started to fall apart, and his cotton shirt had holes all in it. He wore a thin jacket, and smiled at Spencer kindly. 

"I do recall making a promise to a young man about teaching him to carve a pumpkin," he said warmly. 

Spencer's surprise faded, and a smile split across his face. He felt guilt well in his heart, he hadn't helped Mason in a while, yet the older man still bailed him out of class so he could keep his promise to him. Despite the fact that Spencer had a good reason for his abandonment, he couldn't help but feel like a truly rotten person for what he'd done. Mason seemed to enjoy his help, and carried enough of a fondness for the young boy to keep a promise to him. 

"You got me out of class to teach me to carve a pumpkin?" Spencer inquired, amused and appreciative. 

"Well, I doubted old Ms. Sanders would appreciate me carrying a pumpkin into her class, she's a bit stiff that way," Mason joked, and winked at the boy. Spencer's smile grew, and Mason continued on, "I was going to wait until your free-time, but I assumed your schedule must have been filled recently." 

Spencer flinched, Mason's tone wasn't accusatory, yet it still hurt something inside Spencer. He hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry," he repented quietly. "I just...I haven't been able to-."

"No apologies needed," Mason told him, and gripped his shoulder tightly so Spencer would meet his eye. "We'll discuss further once I get you practicing with the pumpkins." 

Spencer grinned, and nodded. He followed Mason down the hall, and out of the school to the grounds. The day was nice, especially for fall. The trees already had many of their leaves abandoning them, and what was left was an array of beautiful colors. Spencer recalled that his Mother had always been quite morbid about fall, she always said it was the season of death. How everyone just saw the beauty, when really everything was just dying away, something so horrible disguised as something so beautiful. Spencer tended to always ignore that opinion of his Mother's, it did nothing but depress him, and he wouldn't allow himself to grow depressed for his favorite season of the year. 

The wind blew a chill through his jacket and straight to the skin. He shivered, and wrapped his arms around himself. The dress jacket wasn't meant to handle such chilly conditions, it was mainly for show. Mason seemed to notice that, and threw his head back in laughter. He then begun to take off his own jean jacket, and handed the thin piece of to Spencer.

"You're from lands of sunshine, aren't you?" He asked in amusement. Spencer flushed, and nodded. He put on Mason's jacket over his own, it was much bigger than he was. Mason's shoulders were broader, his muscles larger, and his overall stature was one much larger than Spencer's own. He looked like a little kid who got into his Father's clothing. 

"Vegas usually doesn't grow as cold," Spencer agreed, he held the jacket tightly around himself and followed Mason as he continued to walk through the grounds. The wind bothered him considerably less with both jackets wrapped comfortably around his thin form. The wind blew so hard, it looked like it could take the small young man with it, blow him away with the leaves. 

Spencer followed Mason all the way to a shed behind the school, Mason walked right up to it and opened it up, gestured for Spencer to follow him inside. Spencer walked inside, and saw it consisted of all of Mason's gardening tools, and all of the things he needed to maintain the grounds. It was a rather spacious shed, and had room for a table that rest in the middle of it, right in the middle rest a big, orange pumpkin, fresh, along with a multitude of tools that surrounded it. 

Spencer stared at it, and then back at Mason, apprehensive, but ultimately excited. "I really have never done this," he confessed, he approached the pumpkin slowly, as if it were a skittish animal. "Is it hard?" 

"We'll start you off simple," Mason said. "We'll start with the normal face with big scary teeth that all the little kids seem to favor." 

Spencer smiled. "Jack-o'-lantern! I did always like those." 

"Well." Mason returned the smile. "You do seem to be one for classics." 

"The jack-o'-lantern can be either a carved pumpkin, or a turnip, it was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern," Spencer explained, he'd approached the table so he stood directly in front of the plump, orange fruit. He hesitantly brought a hand to the surface of it, the smooth feel of one area, and then dragged it along over the ridges, it was cool under his fingertips. "Its origins are uncertain. Gourds were used to carve lanterns by the Maori over 700 years ago. There is a belief that the custom of carving jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween originated in Ireland, where turnips, mangelwurzel or beets were supposedly used-." He'd cut himself off when he noticed that Mason had begun laughing. He frowned in confusion. 

"My, you really can go on, can't you?" Mason inquired with amusement. 

Spencer flushed scarlet and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "So I've been told," he admitted in embarrassment. "I need to work on it."

"Don't," Mason advised. "It's charming."

Spencer looked at him in bewilderment. "What?!" He asked in surprise. "It is?!" 

"Those who care for you will find it endearing, and it will continue to annoy those who don't," Mason answered in good humor. "It's a win-win situation." 

Spencer let out a tiny laugh, and then observed the tools on the table. "We should get going, class will be over soon." 

"You're out of your next few classes," Mason replied plainly, as though he hadn't just said something jarring. 

Spencer looked at him in confusion. "Huh?" Was all he managed to get out.

"I spoke to your teachers, you're out through lunch. You can go back in to grab lunch if you'd prefer, but I'd be happy to take you out for a bite myself," Mason explained pleasantly. "I could probably get you out of some after lunch, as well. But I doubt you'd like to spend that long away from class." 

"I'm sorry I haven't been much help in the gardens," Spencer blurted out, he hadn't intended to. 

"As I said, there is no need for apologies," Mason reminded him, but he then looked at Spencer with consideration. "But may I ask why you've been spending time with Liam Lockwood?" Spencer stiffened. "He seems much different from your normal group of friends." 

"Maybe that's what I like about him," Spencer countered, overly defensive about the innocent question. He wasn't used to things like this, and he felt cornered as he stood in the shed. 

Mason actually, much to Spencer's surprise, laughed. "You don't like him at all, do you?" He inquired. Spencer froze, unable to do anything, argue or confirm. "Well, wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen," Mason mused. Spencer immediately caught on to what he meant, and looked at him anxiously. 

"Were you there?" He inquired, they both knew exactly what it was that he spoke of. 

Mason shook his head in the negative. "No, I wasn't," he said. "Not too sad about that fact. Terrible thing to happen, much too close to the other terrible thing." He gave Spencer a meaningful look. "Rather similar the two, weren't they?" 

Spencer felt a lump in his throat, he wondered if he were mistaking the knowledge in Mason's voice. Perhaps he suspected what Spencer and his friends had? "Yes," Spencer confirmed. "Identical." 

"Some might assume this to be a dangerous time," Mason mused, his voice still filled with meaning, Spencer picked up on it instantly.

"Some might," he once again agreed.

"Some might also advise a young man and his friend to try to stay out of the woods at such a dangerous time," Mason continued, and give Spencer a stern look. Spencer's eyes widened, mouth agape. "It's quite dangerous thing to do, no matter the situation. Your friend isn't as stealthy as he thinks he is." 

Spencer flushed. "You try telling him that," he joked mildly. He started to shake, he'd had no clue anyone had seen him that night. "What were you doing up?"

"Classic case of insomnia," Mason replied. "I live here, and I go for walks when I can't sleep." He gave Spencer a meaningful look. "Also, tell your friend he really shouldn't be getting drunk on school nights."

Spencer's eyes popped open even further. "Um...I'm...I'll be sure to-...are you going to tell anyone?" He asked meekly. 

Mason let out a string of chuckles, and Spencer flinched in surprise of it. "Please. Even if I told them, they wouldn't care, and with all the things I've seen students do, your friend is a saint." 

"Not exactly my first choice of word for him," Spencer joked in good nature, he knew that if Derek had been there, he would have found the response amusing. "But he is a good guy." 

"Ah, so he is," Mason agreed. "I've worked these grounds for awhile now, Spencer. I've seen quite a bit of the kids around here. Funny how parents seem to send the kids here for a tame environment...I'm afraid they're not getting their money's worth." 

"Have you ever seen anything like...this?" Spencer inquired, unable to still his curiosity. 

"I've seen some bad things," Mason informed him. "But this? Two kids dying violently in front of the entire student body? This is new to me. "

"...Does it frighten you?" Spencer asked. 

"I'm afraid I'm too wise for it not to," Mason answered earnestly. "I'm sure you are, too." 

"If you're scared, why not leave?" Spencer asked, unable to stop his stream of questions. If Mason was scared of what was happening, and seemed to see it for what it was, then why did he stay? 

"Because if the students can't leave, then neither will I," Mason replied. "I see a lot, Spencer. I'm just hoping that I'll see something that can help." 

"Do you think it will matter if you do?" Spencer asked, slightly sullen. "The school seems to overlook a lot." 

"The school is famous for oversights," Mason said. "They don't know something when it's plainly in front of their face. They just make bad choices all around, and it's always the kids that suffer." 

"You said you see a lot...have you seen anything at all?" Spencer inquired, still not sure if he should directly state his inquiry, or if they were to dance around the topic, both aware, yet neither saying. 

"Nothing that is of use, I'm quite afraid," Mason said. "But I may soon. People like us, Spencer, we don't run into the flock, we observe it."

"I guess we do," Spencer agreed. "Now, please allow me to observe as you teach me to carve a pumpkin."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had ended up going out to lunch with Mason. Part of him felt as though he was making a huge mistake, and that he should have returned to sit at Liam's table. But the day prior had proved none of the group seemed to have anything of use to say, and to be fair, he felt as though he could have learned more about the school by going to lunch with Mason. He remembered what Aaron had said at breakfast about branching out for other leads besides Liam, and Spencer made sure he did just that. He asked Mason every question on the school he could think of, and the man happily answered all of them. 

Sadly, none of the answers enlightened Spencer on too much. The man had said certain things that had piqued his interest. Such as the fact that Mason really did seem to see everything. He told Spencer of the fact that Liam and David had almost come to blows freshman year. The fact had only slightly surprised Spencer, mainly for the reason that he felt as though Liam would have had to have been an idiot to instigate things with David to that point. Liam was well built, but David could have run him over. Not to mention the fact that he and Derek had apparently already become friends, which was a plus. 

Mason informed him that Liam's family was very well respected, and admired. As was Scarlett's family, which was probably why they had started dating. Their families were the best of friends, and so their children had to be, as well. They grew up together, apparently. 

Mason also told him that the school had been falling apart from the inside for a long time. He said it seemed as though every day there were more secrets to be covered up, and that a lot of work had to go into the school to keep it still looking so perfect to everyone on the outside. He said a person could do just about anything and get away with it. 

Spencer thought about that a lot through his classes, it helped them feel less boring. He'd also thought about his jack-'o-lantern, and felt his face heat up in the middle of his class. He had not found his hidden talent, at all. It had looked worse than the five year old who'd lived across the street from him. Mason had tried to hold back his laughter, clapped Spencer on the back, and kindly told him they'd work on it together. Spencer didn't see himself improving much before it was their pumpkin carving event.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Something else Spencer had noticed after he'd returned to class, was that his group of friends looked less than pleased when they saw him. Well, that wasn't true. They had initially looked relieved when he'd passed them in the halls to get to class, but then every time after that they'd seemed annoyed. He'd had a feeling of dread build in inside of him, a weight that pushed down on him so heavy that he slouched as he walked, his feet clacked to the ground noisily. 

After AP Chemistry, Spencer had spotted Emily approaching him. She walked down the hall quickly, purpose in each step. He wondered if maybe he'd made a mistake by going out with Mason for lunch, despite the fact that he was doing what he thought they would want him to do. Thanks to his memory he was able to retain the conversation they had, and felt as though he could relay it to them later. 

Before Emily had gotten to him, Liam approached first. "Come on," he encouraged, head gestured to one side. "We're going to study." 

Spencer cast a fleeting look towards Emily, who had frozen at her spot. Left leg still forward, right one still back, she'd frozen mid-strut. Her eyes looked between the two of them, before she turned on her heels and walked away. Spencer took that as the approval he needed, although he always did dread spending time with Liam. 

"Alright," he agreed, forced smile plastered on his face. "Guess I can help Ella with her biology notes."

Liam rolled his eyes. "I swear, that girl has the same amount of intellect as the molded old stump at the back of the school." 

"She's not that bad," Spencer defended, he and Liam walked step in step. "She just doesn't focus and gets her notes mixed." 

"I believe you've already been able to tell that neither of the girls favor her very much," Liam said with a grin. "They don't conceal it very well." 

"They really don't," Spencer agreed. "Do you...kind of feel bad for her?" 

Liam snorted, and looked at Spencer as though he had asked the most ridiculous question. "Why would I?" He inquired. "She brings it on herself." At Spencer's slightly scandalized look, Liam rolled his eyes and explained, "She's not one of us, Spencer. I haven't a clue what Owen sees in her, but she shouldn't just get a free pass into our group." 

"They seem to really like each other," Spencer pointed out. It was true, they publicly would cuddle up together, and would laugh at each other's jokes often. "So he must see something in her." 

"Well, whatever it is, it isn't apparent to the naked eye," Liam dismissed. "But you're right, he is quite fond of her. He talks about her all the time." Liam then rolled his eyes. "Though, he'll talk about anything." 

Spencer laughed, he had to agree. "I'm still confused by the lack of oxygen he intakes," Spencer admitted jokingly. Liam chuckled at his attempt. 

"I want to put him on one of those monitors, see how low his oxygen levels go when he talks. I'll bet you it would set off an alarm." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Without fail, Ella had more notes she wanted Spencer to look through. She thanked him multiple times as he went over all of them with a pencil, to add or correct each different one. 

"I'm doing much better in class," she explained to him. "Because of you helping with my notes." 

"Well it didn't take much," Amelia cut in from across the room. Her legs were crossed, left over right, her silky smooth skin on full display. She hadn't even looked up from her textbook. "You only needed a genius." 

Scarlett giggled, Liam had apparently allowed her to sit next to him on his bed. They were cuddled up, books in front of each of them, his arm tossed around her, and her head rest on the nape of his neck, her eyes scanned the pages, and her hand tapped her pen. 

"Oh come on, Amelia," Liam said absent-mindedly. "We all have subjects we're bad at. Ella just happens to have many." 

Ella's face heated up, and Spencer noticed that Owen finally seemed aware of the fact that his girlfriend had been insulted. For someone who supposedly was quite smart, Spencer couldn't help but find the boy a bit thick. 

"Hey," Owen tossed an arm around Ella's shoulder, and pulled her tightly to him. "She does great in her subjects." 

"Does she now?" Liam asked dryly. "My mistake." 

Owen's face grew red with anger, and his arm around Ella tightened. Ella looked at Owen, she almost seemed pleased, as though his reaction was a long time in the making. "If you're going to be jerks, we can leave." 

"You won't," Sawyer cut in, he wasn't even studying, he was just eating Cheetos. "Who else would fix Ella's notes?" 

"Don't go," Amelia blurted out. The whole room turned their attention to her, she had a slightly panicked expression on her face, but she quickly schooled it. "Everyone is just messing with her, as friends do," she assured Owen, her lips were forcibly lifted in some semblance of a friendly smile. "No one here means any real harm." 

"Of course we don't," Scarlett agreed, her expression just as fake as Amelia's own. It was obvious she was trying to back up her best friend's wishes. "We were impolite. It has just been a...rough few days." 

Spencer felt anger build up inside of him at the fact that they tried to pass off their tendency for cruelty on the fact that a fellow student had just died. To him, that crossed a whole new line. 

Spencer had almost been wrapped up in his own anger, that he nearly missed the way Liam's arm tensed, his expression darkened, and his eyes tore away from his textbook to glance around the room, but when they met Spencer's, he quickly averted them. Spencer couldn't help but slightly side with Derek, part of him felt as though Liam were truly the culprit. All the lorgical signs pointed to him. But he needed facts...he could work with no less.

"Did any of you know him?" He asked the question similar to the one he'd asked about Kathryne. Liam stiffened even more so, and set his jaw, his eyes cast to the side as though he were thinking. 

"No," Amelia answered, she was back to looking at her textbook. "I don't get why he wouldn't bring his inhaler to a football game if he has asthma," her voice leaked...something in it. Spencer couldn't quite identify the emotion, but his best guess was that she wasn't as blasé about it as she tried to come across. 

"His asthma wasn't bad," Ella informed them, she looked next to her at the notes Spencer had corrected, her eyebrows knit together and her face thoughtful. 

"How do you know that?" Liam asked, his voice tight. "If he died from it I'd say it was pretty bad." 

Ella shrugged. "It was convenient," she said cryptically. It caught Spencer's attention, and he looked at her with confusion. Maybe she suspected something, as well? 

"I don't get why he went for Derek Morgan," Amelia scoffed. "Like he'd help anyone except himself." 

Spencer felt his hand tighten around the pencil, the grip so tight it surprised him the pencil didn't snap in two. 

"Everyone was so useless," Scarlett agreed, she spun her pen around in her hand, and shook her head. She almost seemed not to notice that Liam was as stiff as a board next to her. "I swear, the entire team is incompetent." 

"You shouldn't move someone if they're having a seizure," Ella reminded her, Scarlett looked at her in surprise. "Everyone knows that." 

Scarlett's eyes narrowed, Amelia looked up from her textbook, and Sawyer looked incredibly amused. It was sad to Spencer how Ella correcting Scarlett won her more of a reaction than the mention of a boy's death. It also surprised Spencer how they seemed to have much less of a reaction to this death than the death of Kathryne, perhaps they'd just learned to compartmentalize. 

"Well I'm afraid I don't do a lot of research on seizures," Scarlett replied tersely. 

"You should," Ella told her. "It's important for first aid. Especially since we've had two happen this year." 

"Like you'd be good at first aid?" Amelia scoffed at her, and laughed mockingly. "You can't even pass basic science courses." 

Ella smiled fakely. "Passing classes doesn't do you much good if you can't put it to work," Ella told her, and then her eyes got a glint in them, and she cuddled close to Owen. "But you're not very good at assessing the situation in front of you." 

"You know," Amelia started her reply, her eyes cool, if looks could kill than Ella would have been struck dead the moment after she'd made her remark. "Those notes won't do you much good if you can't retain any of it. Retaining what you have is the most important part," she told her. "Take your mind off of it for one second." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that, it's gone." 

Spencer rolled his eyes and focused his attention back on his notes. It was all so petty to him. People were being murdered, and the two girls were fighting over a guy who was obviously only interested in one of them. 

"That's true," Liam's voice did surprise him, though. "You take your eye off something for one second, and you lose." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had eaten dinner with Liam and his friends, he'd noticed his own group staring at him the entire time. It was awkward, and made him squirm in his seat so much that Owen had, quite loudly, called him out on it. 

His mind replayed Liam's words over and over again. He'd kept his eye on the boy all through dinner, but he made no other odd statements, or odd movements. Liam just simply sat, ate, and replied to bits of the conversation. Ella and Amelia kept glaring at each other, and Scarlett kept backing up Amelia, Sawyer ate, and Owen talked. It was pretty much the group's usual interaction, but something felt different that day. Perhaps it was Spencer's own suspicions, or perhaps it was something else entirely. But he'd felt much more alert, and suddenly wished he hadn't had his lunch with Mason, he took his eye off of Liam for just a mere second, then and at the game...did he lose? 

The question reeled in his mind as he went to walk back to his own room, his friend's had left the dining hall before he had. He'd had every intention of sharing with them everything had happened, but he quickly noticed once he'd finally entered his room, that he was not going to be the first to speak.

"Where the hell were you?!" Emily demanded of him, she marched over to him and tugged him the rest of the way into the room. Everyone else sat there, as though they were parents ready to scold their child. "You disappeared until after lunch!" 

Spencer rubbed his arm through his jacket, awkward and uncomfortable. He shuffled his feet on the hardwood, and focused his attention on the scratches that littered the smooth surface. "Mason bailed me out of class," he explained. 

"Why'd he do that?" Penelope asked. She was seated on the floor, her laptop, unsurprisingly, in her lap. He wondered how she'd retrieved it so fast between dinner and that moment. 

"...he wanted to teach me how to carve a jack-'o-lantern," Spencer admitted, he felt his face heat up as the whole room stared at him in bewilderment. He'd mentioned it before, but with recent events being what they were, the group probably would have expected him to redirect his focus. 

"Why weren't you at lunch?" Derek demanded. "We were worried sick about you, man!" 

"He took me out for lunch," Spencer explained, he raised his head to see that Derek looked furious. "I know I should have been keeping an eye on Liam!" Spencer admitted. "But...Mason knows a lot about the school..and I remembered what Aaron said about branching out, so I decided to see if I could learn any new information." 

"From the groundskeeper?" Derek asked him in disbelief.

"Yeah, by the way he said for me to tell you to stop getting wasted on school nights," Spencer quipped. Derek's eyebrows shot up, and his mouth popped open. He heard behind him David losing it, he was leaned up against the side of Spencer's bed. 

"Well tell him to mind his own business," Derek shot back, his arms crossed over the chest, and Penelope gently pat his ankle. 

"Did you learn anything important?" Aaron cut in, before Spencer could reply to Derek's remark. "Other than how to carve a jack-o'-lantern?" 

"I didn't even learn the latter all that well," Spencer admitted, he walked over to his bed and plopped down on it, amused by how David inched away from his shoes. "Not much of use. Except...I think Mason knows something is going on, he just doesn't know who is behind it. He also told me there's a lot of corruption in the school, and no matter how many kids we lose...it will probably be covered up." Spencer shrugged. "My guess is the perpetrator knows it, as well." 

"Anything else on Liam?" Derek inquired, hands now folded in his lap and he leaned in. Obviously, Derek was still focused on Liam's possibility as the culprit, and after the day he'd had, Spencer couldn't blame him.

"He was VERY tense when the death was brought up," Spencer informed the room. "He showed some classic symptoms of guilt and he, well, he said something," Spencer begun, not quite sure how to put it in the correct context. Everyone seemed to lean in, eager to hear what it was. "We were talking about retaining information...and...he...he said if you take your eye of something for one moment, then you lose," Spencer quoted back to them. "It wasn't so much the words as how he said them, they had meaning to them." 

They all looked at Aaron expectantly, but the boy merely sighed and shrugged. "Inconclusive," he stated. Derek and David both let out sounds of frustration, and Aaron quickly continued, "His words fit into the context of your discussion, Spencer, it could have just been that you were hypervigilant," he suggested.

Spencer narrowed his eyes, and frowned deeply. "I'm perfectly aware of knowing what is going on around me," Spencer informed the other boy haughtily. "I know that what he said has a deeper meaning."

"Is that a fact?" Aaron inquired.

Spencer drooped, his anger suddenly vanished, and he wrung his fingers together, looked at the way they intersected, and took in a deep breath before he answered, "No." 

"Why are you so set on it not being him?" Derek inquired of Aaron, he looked annoyed and frustrated. 

"I'm not set against it being him, and honestly he's our best bet, but I'm working with the facts, Derek. We have no proof that Liam hurt anyone. All we have is our assumptions, which won't do us any good," Aaron explained calmly, voice even. But his posture betrayed his own anxiousness, it was obvious he was just as much of a mess internally as the rest of them. 

"What about the rejected football players?" Spencer asked. "Did you get any names?" 

"Everyone was too pissed off about the game being cancelled to have questions asked," Derek explained. "I tried to work it in as a way to ask about new players, they told me some names, babygirl is going to do a search on them." He gestured to Penelope, who saluted Spencer from her location on the floor. 

"I will leave no stone unturned," she assured them. "I will sit here on my perfect posterior until we find our guy." 

"...That is the oddest assurance of hard work I've ever heard," David mused, and most of the room chuckled or laughed. 

"I just wish we had more to work with," Emily told them, she had begun to pace, and picked at her nails as she did so. "All we know is Spencer's expert opinion." Spencer flushed, flattered at being referred to as an "expert". "That it's cyanide," Emily continued. "Also that the target seems to be kids in sports. Beyond that? It's all unclear."

"At least we have a main suspect," Penelope reminded them cheerfully. "That's always good, right?" 

"Not when you have no proof to back up your claim," David replied honestly. "Without proof it's just another complication." 

"I just wish we had more-." Emily was cut off by a knock on the door. It was loud, and echoed through the room. She frowned in confusion, and observed all the people already inside. They were all there. 

"Who is that?" Penelope whispered. 

"Time to find out," Emily replied and approached the door, she cracked it open, and they all saw the look of shock that came over her face before they saw who it was. "Jennifer?" She asked in surprise.

Penelope gasped, and immediately set her computer next to herself, she rose from the ground eagerly as the blonde smiled politely at the door. 

"Hi, Emily," Jennifer greeted politely, she eyed inside the room. "Can I come in? It's important." 

"Come in!" Penelope pushed past Emily, before the brunette could reply, and opened the door widely. Jennifer grinned at her and walked into the room slowly, hesitantly. It was odd, her knock had so much power, but she really seemed so nervous.

"Hey," David greeted, his voice rather polite, but confused. "What brings you here?" 

"I came here because..." Jennifer sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair, she released an uncomfortable laugh that held no humor in it. The whole room looked at her with concern. "Look, I know we haven't been close lately-." 

"That's an understatement," David cut her off, Jennifer bit her lip and nodded, and Penelope glared at him with enough wrath to kill. 

"I know we haven't been close," Jennifer continued. "But that doesn't change the fact that I've known you guys since I started coming here...well...most of you." She cast a glance over to Spencer, who couldn't think of anything else to do except give her an awkward wave. To his surprise, she actually gave him a rather kind smile in return for his efforts. "So I know when you guys are up to something." 

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked her, he cast a glance to the rest of the room, the faces which looked just as lost on what to do as he did. 

Jennifer actually smiled with almost affection. "Come on, Aaron. I can see you guys from my table, too, you know. I can see you guys leaning in and whispering to each other, casting glances around the whole lunch room, and especially looking at me. I know you guys know that there's something going on...and when Penelope questioned me...I became sure of it," Jennifer explained. "I know you," she told Penelope, who she turned to look at. The other blonde seemed to have tears in her eyes. "I know when you're acting off, and you were acting off. Look." She sucked in a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment. "I knew something was going on, but I didn't want to admit it to myself. I even tried to ignore it after I heard the rumors about Ronald Richardson truly having overdosed and not just left. But after...after what happened at the game, I can't ignore it." 

"Ignore what?" Aaron asked her, he looked at her intently, waiting for her to make the first move. 

"I know you guys know that something is going on," Jennifer announced. "You guys admitted it to yourselves long before I was able to." She closed her eyes once again, and sniffled slightly. She stood there, in the middle of the room, open and honest, right in front of a group of old friends who she'd had next to no contact to recently. Spencer couldn't help but admire the bravery it had to take to do such a thing. "Keith didn't die because of asthma, Richardson didn't leave or die of an overdose, and Kathryne-." Her voice had wobbled, and Penelope had rushed closer to her to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, Jennifer instantly leaned into it. "Kathryne didn't die because of natural causes." 

There was a long moment of silence in the room. It was almost as though no one knew quite what to say. They all felt validated in their own beliefs, much like Spencer had when Mason had hinted at his own, but none knew what to say. 

"Before she." Jennifer sucked in another breath, and her eyes reflected the bravery inside of her, for the next words to leave her mouth would impact everyone. "Before she died, Kathryne told me her water tasted funny, like something had gotten in it," Jennifer admitted, tears welled in her brave eyes. "Then she died. I...I told myself it was just her taste buds, that it was nothing. Because it seemed too terrible to actually be something. Especially since I figured that if there was anything wrong with her, they would have found it in the autopsy report." She looked rueful. "But they didn't. So I just thought I was crazy for thinking it." 

Everyone absorbed her words. They all knew that Kathryne had said something about her drink before she fell, and now they all felt validated in their belief of what she had said. Jennifer stood before them, she held back her tears and stared at the rest of the room.

"You guys must think I'm awful," she continued once no one had spoken. "For not saying anything."

"Nothing you said would have done any good," Aaron assured her, his voice sympathetic and low in volume. "You counted on the officials to do the right thing, you didn't do anything wrong." 

Jennifer smiled gratefully at him. "You guys are trying to figure out who did it, aren't you?" She asked. "You're the only people I know who are crazy enough to try."

"I resent that," David said. Jennifer turned to look at him, and raised a blonde brow. "Well, it's true, but I resent it." 

Jennifer laughed softly, before she sobered up again. "Kathryne was my friend, and if you are the only people that are trying to figure out who killed her, then I want in," she announced. 

"You're sure about it?" Emily asked her, she still stood by the door. "Like you said, we're pretty crazy." 

"Not to mention it could damage your image," Derek added, his voice was slightly light-hearted, but it also carried a note of hurt to it. Jennifer's face softened as she looked at him. 

"I don't care about my image," she informed him, and the rest of the room. "I care about finding out who did this, but I also care about all of you," she explained. "I want my friends back." 

"If you're serious-." Aaron was cut off by Jennifer,

"Oh, I am." 

"Then you've got them," Aaron told her. "That is, if the rest will have you." 

There was a moment of silence, before everyone slowly nodded their head, Penelope the most eager. Spencer just merely sat there, he was never her friend, and didn't know if he had the right to nod or not. 

"Oh! We also have Spencer now!" Penelope released Jennifer's arm to run over to Spencer, and tugged him to his feet. He let out a groan of annoyance at being pulled from his bed. "Isn't he cute?!" 

Jennifer snickered, and brought a hand to her mouth to cover her smile at the miserable expression on Spencer's face. "Adorable," she replied. 

"Well, Jennifer," David begun, and smirked up at her from his position on the floor. "Welcome to the team." 

"Oh, David," Jennifer scoffed. "Please. We both know it's JJ."


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennifer has now joined the group, homecoming has approached, and the whole group is thrown off their guard.

Spencer hadn't a clue what to expect when it had been announced that Jennifer was to join the group. 

He'd at first been nervous, he wasn't exactly opposed to change, but he'd grown comfortable with their group. Not to mention the fact that Jennifer was, by all means, popular. He wasn't one to judge a person by their social standing, or a book by its cover for that matter, but his past had shown him that popular girls were commonly not kind to him. They'd aid the pranks of the popular boys, and join in to humiliate him. 

They'd had a lengthy discussion that night, and had proceeded to fill Jennifer in on what they knew. David, Derek, and Emily still seemed hesitant to reveal their information, but Aaron and Penelope seemed to give it up rather easily. It was odd, Penelope was always the most vocal about missing Jennifer, but it seemed the others were more quiet because they were hurt by it. Especially Emily, who he noticed kept casting looks her way. But then again, Spencer wasn't surprised. The action by the blonde had hurt everyone, and a sudden reappearance didn't make up for it. 

Jennifer had seemed surprised with the accusation of Liam Lockwood, and had asked if it had anything to do with the fact that no one in the group liked him, which had earned her a rather unhappy response. Spencer had quietly explained to her what he'd noticed, still uncomfortable around the new addition. He often messed up first impressions, and when he found himself rambling on about poisoning statistics to the point where David lightly smacked his leg, he'd learned he'd once again made another bad one. But he didn't seem to learn, since he'd went on to talk about asthma statistics not even ten minutes later. Judging by the raised eyebrows and look of disbelief the blonde wore clued him in on that, although she had been informed of his intelligence, she might not have anticipated the extent of it. 

They had told Jennifer how they had called themselves "The Misfits"...and after she had gotten done laughing, they told her their titles. She'd looked at them in disbelief for quite a bit, while David squeezed at the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. It was weird how the idea of their "ranks" had grown to be so normal to them, but when an outsider heard it they just seemed like a bunch of nine year olds who started a club.

Jennifer had seemed a tad bit apprehensive about some of the things the group thought, and certain moves they planned to make. Such as, she didn't understand why if they thought Liam was the killer that they'd send Spencer to hang out with him. Derek seemed to feel validated, and smirked knowingly when she'd seemed horrified. Spencer had to wonder to himself if he seriously looked as helpless as a kitten. 

They'd decided that Jennifer had connections that the rest of them didn't have. Such as the fact that she was more popular than all of them, and that she was in one of the sports teams where one of the victims was targeted. The connections were too important to lose, so they decided on a system similar to Spencer's. She sat with them at breakfast, and then hung around her regular friends for the rest of the day, and they could meet up at night if need be. They'd also decided that Jennifer would give her friends some story involving the fact that she "pitied" her old friends and decided to grace them with her presence for at least breakfast. Jennifer had seemed almost offended by that plan, and had informed them that the friends she had weren't that shallow...which had resulted in David, Derek, and Emily all laughing. Spencer had just sat and watched the scene politely, every time he opened his mouth it seemed like the wrong thing popped out of it. 

Of course, that tended to be the story of his life. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The days that had followed leading up to the homecoming dance had been...different. Partaking in breakfast with the rest of the group had become routine, and it wasn't as though Jennifer disrupted it, but she was a new addition that Spencer hadn't quite known how to handle. He'd been informed by the girl to just call her JJ. She wasn't unkind to Spencer, by any stretch of the imagination, if anything she usually just followed the same sarcastic teasing route the rest of the group seemed to follow. But he felt the cool gazes from the table filled with Jennifer's friends, and often found himself hanging his head as he attempted to ignore them. It was then he realized it had been awhile since he'd been looked at like that. 

Penelope had done another search on Liam, but this one had been extensive. She had searched places that made Spencer scared that the police would be breaking down their dorm room door, and that they'd proceed to take them all away to jail as accomplices. Penelope was as unconcerned as ever, it sometimes frightened Spencer just how invincible she felt when it came to her computers. Sometimes he felt like Penelope sought the same comfort in her computers as he had in his statistics, in his books. Both of the things brought them a sense of security, comfort, and made them feel like experts in something. But of course, his hobby wasn't illegal. But he decided not to get into semantics. 

When it came to Liam, though, they had found certain things of use. Some things weren't as impressive, such as the fact that he'd purchased books on poisons before he'd started the school year. Naturally, Aaron had been the one to point out that this was inconclusive, and not solid evidence. If they were to arrest anyone who did research on poisons, then most of the writing population, not to mention a fair amount of students, would be in a cell. But then, something incredible had happened. Penelope uncovered a Lockwood family secret. Liam had bragged before about the work his Uncle did, and all about how the man traveled around the world and did good for the less fortunate, such as work in Africa that concerned building orphanages, how he'd provide food for the starving, clean water, and such. As it turned out, the truth was a lot more juicy; considering his Uncle was serving time in prison for the first-degree attempted murder of his wife; Liam's Aunt. 

After the shocked looks on everyone's faces slowly faded to more of just a relatively surprised, slack-jawed, eye bulged, expression, Aaron had pointed out the fact that the event still didn't prove that Liam was guilty. Emily had countered with the fact that the act could have inspired Liam, and Derek had shocked them all when he'd snapped at her that seeing people doing bad things doesn't make it your destiny to do the same. Considering the fact that Derek was strongly against Liam, the behavior seemed increasingly out of character. Emily had calmly attempted to explain to her angry friend that she never intended for her words to be interpreted that way, and that she merely meant that if he'd already been having thoughts, there was his inspiration. 

Penelope had said she didn't see how that made sense, since Liam's Uncle had been sentenced three years prior. Jennifer had surprised them all by adding in the fact that it could have been planned for a long time, inspired by his Uncle's own act years prior. It wasn't like it was the easiest thing in the world to get your hands on a good supply of cyanide when the boy had only been fourteen at the time. They had all inquired of Penelope how exactly Liam's Uncle had attempted the murder. 

He'd put ethylene glycol in her coffee.

He'd tried to poison her.

Even Aaron had to admit, that was something.

~.~.~.~.~.

The days seemed to pass by so quickly, but it still seemed like it took a million years at the same time. The hours seemed to tick away exceptionally slow, and Spencer often found himself glaring at the clock as he was stuck with Liam and his friends, and then yet, when it was all said and done, Spencer hadn't felt like there was nearly enough time. 

Spencer had to wonder if Liam had picked up on the fact that he might know something. The boy barely spoke, and when he did? There was nothing of use to take away from it. It was insanely frustrating for the young genius. Liam had schooled his facial expression to blankness, and his eyes just seemed dead and void. There was no readable body language, and Spencer couldn't trigger a reaction out of him. 

The days that led up to homecoming were filled with aggravation. Penelope had run a background check on the names that Derek had given her, but nothing of use was found. They all just had perfectly normal backgrounds, not a single offense on record. 

"Did you do an extensive one?" Aaron asked, the morning of homecoming. The dining hall seemed especially loud, and talks of dresses and dates could be overheard from across the room. One guy in particular didn't seem to understand the fact that the whole dining hall was listening to him talk about how he'd been after this girl, who was his date, trying to get the nerve to ask her on a date for the past three years, and he'd finally succeeded. The date in question sat with her group of friends, mouth agape and eyes wide while her friends snickered. She looked oddly delighted, though, so it probably wasn't that big of a disaster. 

"For the billionth time, yessir! The only thing I found out that was mildly interesting was that Finn Farley is finally getting his braces off. I'm so happy for him! He's had them on for like, well, I don't really know. He had them on when I met him-." Penelope's excited rant was cut off again by Derek.

"Why are we still wasting our time with this? Poisoning is even in Liam's family. He's the only one we have any stable motive behind," Derek reminded them. Obviously he had dropped any original reservations on the family relation argument. 

"We can't have a one track mind," Aaron shot back at him, obviously just as frustrated as Derek. Deep blue streaks were painted underneath his eyes, the sign of the fact that Aaron slept just as terribly as the rest of them. No matter the cool and calm exterior, he was only human. Penelope had even offered him some concealer, which the boy promptly refused. His lips were set in a thin straight line, so pressed down on that they looked pure white. 

"We're almost sure it's him, Aaron. We should be chasing that. Not having Penelope wasting her time hacking into God knows where," Derek said. 

"Hey! Baby is handling herself just fine, thank you," Penelope reminded him, slightly indignant. "I could do this stuff in my sleep."

Jennifer shook her head, she seemed rather upbeat that morning, despite the fact she was obviously still exhausted, she looked at her friends fondly, it almost seemed as though she were reminiscing. Spencer watched her curiously, and wondered why on earth she'd ever give the group up. Even if it seemed as though she were trading up, there was no other group of friends in the world like them, he was pretty sure of it. 

"Do you think whoever it is will try anything tonight?" David inquired. "I mean, welcoming day, football game, the only quiet one was the 'overdose'." 

"Wouldn't four kids be a bit obvious?" Jennifer asked. "I mean, we've only been here a little over a month." 

Spencer shook his head and played with the fork in his hand, once again not hungry. He remembered back to when he was a lot younger and he saw a magician do a trick with a spoon, he made it bend right in front of his eyes. He'd been so intrigued by the trick that it made him get into magic. Both of his parents had been surprised when they saw him practising it, and his Father had been rather opposed, but they'd both let it be. It made him happy. 

"Strauss looks stressed to all hell," David observed. "But then again, what else is new?" 

"You know, with the smeared makeup, bags under her eyes, and disheveled clothing, she almost looks human," Jennifer joked, but her voice edged on spiteful. Her blonde hair had been tugged back into a tight ponytail that almost seemed to be painful, each blonde strand seemed to be clinging to her scalp for dear life, pulled so tight the skin attempted to follow. With the hair removed from her face, the hollows of her cheeks were more prominent, it reflected how poorly she'd been eating. Spencer assumed that must be pretty bad for an athlete. 

"Hey now, don't insult her, she's David's girlfriend," Derek quipped. David ignored him and continued to eat his food. "You gonna be saving a dance for her?"

"Really?" Jennifer asked in disbelief, her mouth slowly spread into a delighted grin of a friend who had just found out a juicy secret. "You and Strauss?" 

"Yeah," Emily responded instead of David, who had looked annoyed enough to have a reply wrangled out of him. "Been that way for awhile. I guess you missed it." 

Jennifer stilled, and the smile instantly vanished from her face. Spencer winced, Emily wasn't petty, it must have meant she was even more upset than she appeared. Emily was straightforward, and dealt with problems as they came. She was head on, and she didn't play games. Spencer liked that about her, he knew he'd always know where he stood, and if he didn't stand well? Then Emily would probably confront him so they could fix it up. 

Derek sensed the dangerous detour of mood, and despite the fact he seemed to have his own reservations about Jennifer, he tried to lighten it a bit. "Yeah, this idiot has been trying to tell us that they're in love." Derek started to make kissy noises, and David glared at him. 

"Oh leave him alone," Penelope said and leaned across the table to whack Derek in the arm playfully. "Let the boy have his dreams." 

"I wouldn't say Strauss is a dream," Emily said. "She's more of a nightmare." 

"She's the thing kids fear is going to grab their ankle when they get out of bed at night," Derek continued. 

"Oh, trust me, I didn't plan to have her UNDER my bed..." David trailed off, and winked at him. Derek made a gagging noise, and Emily threw down her fork. 

"I can no longer eat," she declared. 

"Ah, now, you see, this boy talk? This I didn't miss," Jennifer joked, in good nature. Penelope laughed, and David just waved a hand dismissively at her. But Emily? Emily just seemed more annoyed.

"Oh yes. I'm sure you're talks of new shoes, cute boys, and trust funds was much more enlightening," Emily mocked her cooly. 

Jennifer glared slightly, and bit her bottom lip before she replied, "That's not what we talked about." 

"Really? My bad. Never been invited to the cool table," Emily continued to talk in a tone of mockery. "Of course, if I got the invite, I would have rejected it." 

"A lot of the girls I hang around are athletes," Jennifer reminded her, voice tight.

"Some of them are. Others are the girls that pulled the stunt on Tracy two years ago." Jennifer flinched at the mention of the event, Spencer stared around the table in confusion. "Or did you forget that?" 

"That isn't relevant," Aaron cut in before a true argument could be formed between the girls. "Can we please try to stay on topic?" 

"Oh Aaron," Penelope begun sympathetically, and the boy groaned. "You really need a good night of sleep, you're on edge." 

"There are people dying, Penelope," David reminded her. "We're all on edge. Some more literally than others. Spencer, you're going to tip off your seat."

Spencer blinked, the remark took a moment register with him. He finally realized that, while he got sucked into observing those around him, he'd somehow managed to scoot right towards the edge of where he sat, about to tumble off. 

"Sorry," he mumbled his unnecessary apology with embarrassment as he rearranged himself. 

"Kid didn't sleep well," Derek informed the table, Spencer glared at him in betrayal. "Was tossing and turning so much I couldn't even sleep." 

"The beds here are awful," Jennifer said sympathetically. "You'd think with all the money they get that they'd put it to use." 

"I'd much rather they use it to buy Mason a snow blower," Spencer replied. At the confused look he received from Jennifer, he rushed to explain, "He's the groundskeeper. They don't give him a snow blower." 

Jennifer smiled at him kindly. "That's sweet, Spence." 

Spencer blinked in surprise, and nearly dropped his fork. It wasn't nearly as startling as the nickname Derek had given to him, but still... "No one has ever called me that before," he blurted out. 

Jennifer blinked in surprise. "Is it not okay?" She inquired. 

"No! It's fine! I've just never heard it before. I like it!" Spencer rushed to assure her, a small smile formed on his face. Before he'd come to boarding school, he'd never had a nickname before. Well, not a kind one, anyway. 

"Well, alright then, Spence," Jennifer said with another one of her kind smiles. Spencer smiled awkwardly, and bashfully, in return. He'd nearly missed Emily roll her eyes. 

"So, what about tonight?" David directed it back to the original topic. "Do we think anything is going to happen." 

"Well, how about this, instead of you spiking the punch, you watch over it instead?" Emily suggested sarcastically. 

David grinned at her. "Can't I do both?" Emily groaned and banged her head up against her hand.

"We really need one of those dog training spray bottles for you," Penelope said with a grin. "I've always hated those. But for you? For you it just might work." 

"So what? We're going to spray him every time he's a jerk?" Emily inquired. "He'll be soaking wet by the end of breakfast." 

Spencer had expected for Aaron to cut in at any moment, and once again attempt to redirect their focus back to the problem at hand. But to Spencer's surprise, the boy stayed quiet. One look at him and it told Spencer why. Aaron had been casting a wanting stare across the dining hall at Haley. Spencer couldn't help the smirk that came over his face, if even he could spot the attraction, it must have been pretty obvious. 

"Aw, isn't that cute." Apparently it was, since David seemed to take notice soon after Spencer had. Aaron blinked and refocused on the group he sat with, and then scowled as David's words finally registered. "Anyone ask Haley to go tonight?" 

Aaron cleared his throat as he tried to piece together his dignity. "I don't know," he replied, he tried to keep as casual as humanly possible. The whole group smiled knowingly at him. "Probably." 

"Awww," Jennifer crooned, Aaron glared at her. "It's so cute that you still like her." She smiled as though she knew something, and Aaron stared at her with confusion. "She doesn't have a date," she told him. 

Aaron looked at her in shock, the rest of the group just continued to stare at him. He looked like a fish out of water, his mouth opening multiple times, his arms moved oddly as though he didn't quite know where to put them. "She doesn't?" 

"She and her friends are going as a group," Jennifer explained, she wore a knowing smirk on her face. "But maybe if someone really cute asks her, she'd reconsider." 

"...Are you two friends?" Aaron asked her, his voice shook a little bit. It was rather amusing, all of them were right about how head over heels Aaron was for Haley. 

"We get along," Jennifer answered with a shrug. She poked at her food with disgust. "She's sweet. Working on the school production." 

"Well, she has to be pretty amazing, she's able to distract Aaron from the mission at hand," Emily teased lightly. Aaron just continued to shift in discomfort, he cleared his throat every few seconds.

"51% of people said flattery is the best way to attract someone," Spencer advised him helpfully. Aaron actually seemed to pay attention to that, and nodded slightly. 

"Yeah, but you also have to ask yourself if she is part of the 49% that doesn't think it is," David pointed out, fork pointed almost in an accusation in Spencer's direction. 

"Don't overdo it with flattery," Jennifer told him. "Or you'll just seem creepy." 

"I say wait until the dance tonight, man," Derek said to him. "Asking her now might make you seem like you're looking for a last minute date. Ask her for a dance tonight or something." 

"The average amount of time to make a first impression on a woman is an hour," Spencer continued on with his facts. "53% of singles said they find a great smile the most attractive feature," he recalled. 

"Heh, then you're screwed," David told Aaron. Penelope glared at him, and Derek laughed. Aaron just continued to shift around uncomfortably. 

"Aww, don't say that," Penelope reprimanded David, and looked at Aaron sympathetically and kindly. "You have a great smile when you smile, Aaron. Just remember to do it a little bit more."

"But not too much," David cut in. "If you smile at everything she says you'll just look like a maniac." 

"Can we please talk about the matter at hand?" Aaron squeaked out, his voice not his usual firmness. The whole table visibly had to withhold outbursts of laughter. 

"Whoever is doing this knows the system well," Spencer was the first with the ability to speak, the others had their lips pursed together in an attempt to block out another burst of laughter as they looked at Aaron. "But a third public killing mirroring the first two? Even whoever is behind this has to know they're pushing it."

"Unless they're looking for a flashy exit," Emily countered. "Homecoming? Quite the way to go." 

"But not the biggest," David reminded them. "If I was to get a flashy exit? I'd pick prom." 

"Prom is quite a ways away," Derek said. His eyes still flashed over to Liam's table every once and awhile. "This guy has already killed three people." 

"So what do we do tonight?" Emily asked, she looked utterly exhausted and done. Spencer couldn't blame her, it felt as though they were taking on the world. "Watch over the punch bowl and have eyes on Liam at all times?" 

Aaron shrugged helplessly. "There's not much more we can do." 

"We could still do the whole Emily is a ninja stalker thingy!" Penelope suggested, abnormally chipper to recommend such a mission. 

Jennifer's eyes bulged, and she looked around the table in confusion. "What stalker thing?" She asked worriedly. She pointed at Spencer. "I thought he was following Liam around." 

"We had a plan," Emily explained. "I was going to sneak around his room and search for evidence." 

Jennifer raised an eyebrow at her, and then laughed a little bit. The whole table slightly glared at her as she brought a blue nail polished hand to her mouth to try to conceal it. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But what would you be looking for? A bottle with a skull on the label? Even then, if you gave it to Strauss why should she believe you that it wasn't yours?" 

"We'd work that part out when we came to it," Emily snapped at her, unamused. "Believe it or not but when bodies are dropping some people tend to get a bit desperate." She continued to glare at her, dark eyes narrowed. "It's almost twice as stupid to assume that we're just going to catch him pouring cyanide into someone's drink." 

Jennifer opened and closed her mouth multiple times, pink lips ended up getting tugged in between pearly white teeth as she attempted to formulate a response. Penelope looked at Emily, Spencer would have assumed it to be in anger, but that hadn't seemed to be Penelope's style. She almost looked hurt. 

"He won't be gone today," Spencer informed the group. "Scarlett signed them up to help decorate for homecoming." 

"You didn't think to mention this before?" David asked him. 

"I just found out yesterday," Spencer admitted sheepishly, he sometimes had felt like for a genius he was an absolute fool. He never seemed to mention the things that the group actually wanted to hear. He hated disappointing people, he felt as though he were meant to succeed at everything, and anything less was failure. "I...I guess it slipped my mind. There's been so much going on and it just didn't seem like a big deal at the time, and yesterday was just...weird for me, I don't know why! I'm really sorry! I was trying to figure out what to do about it, too. You have to put your names on those things to be able to help with it, and I hadn't known beforehand so I couldn't put my name down. It was really stupid! It just-." 

"Spencer!" Aaron cut him off loudly, even some kids from other tables turned to look at them, mouths full. Aaron lowered his voice considerably once Spencer stopped his rant and had given him his attention, eyes still showed internal panic. "It's okay, no one is angry." 

"Great, so he's helping set up homecoming," Emily groaned, she ran her hand through the top of her hair, it smoothed down some of the more rebellious strands. "This doesn't look good." 

"Unless he does something to the entire punch bowl, I don't see what he could possibly do before homecoming starts," David reasoned with them. 

"Are you on the homecoming committee?" Aaron inquired of Jennifer, since she was the one person he hadn't the knowledge of. She shook her head helplessly in the negative. 

"I don't think he's going to poison everyone," Spencer said earnestly. "It wouldn't fit. Whoever this is has a bigger plan, poisoning everyone wouldn't add up with the other actions." 

"We'll all just have to keep our eyes open," Aaron told them, he looked as helpless as the rest felt. "There's nothing else in our power to do." 

"How are we handling homecoming anyway?" Jennifer inquired, she still poked at her untouched meal. It must have grown cold by that point. "Are we going in a group?"

Penelope whipped her head around, blonde locks nearly hit Emily right in her face. Penelope's mouth was opened in a surprise 'o', but they slowly formed into a hopeful smile. "We?" She inquired. 

"Yeah," Jennifer said and looked around the table. "We're all going together, right?" 

"You're coming with us?" David asked. 

"Well, my so called friends originally planned to go in a group. But, as it turns out, the lure of handsome young men that offered themselves to them was just too much. So I'm the only one dateless," Jennifer explained.

"Ah," Emily said. "So we're plan B." 

"No," Jennifer denied."Trust me, I'd much rather go with you guys. You're always much more fun at parties." She smirked at Aaron. "I mean, Aaron, you used to be the life of them." 

"Can someone please explain to me what that means?" Spencer whined.

"Life of the party?" Derek asked. 

"No! Why he used to be it!" Spencer pointed his thumb in Aaron's direction, lips pulled down into a pout. 

"Never," Aaron told him firmly. Spencer made a little disappointed noise.

Jennifer smirked as she looked between them, Aaron had since looked away, and she then leaned across to Spencer and whispered, "I'll tell you later." 

Spencer's surprise faded, and he just looked at her happily. His face split into a big grin, and she just continued to smile at him, and then winked as she leaned back. No one had noticed what she'd said to him, as they were all too busy teasing Aaron. Spencer hoped she hadn't just been playing him, and that she was honest about it. 

Because the suspense was killing him. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Well, well, well," Mason laughed joyfully as Spencer approached him. His face wore a large grin, and he wiped his brow with his glove, which smeared dirt on his forehead. His eyes were large and delighted. "Has someone come to get their hands dirty?" 

"I have no plans!" Spencer told him happily as he raced the rest of the way through the soaked grass to Mason. The grass splashed flecks of water and dirt on his pants, but he didn't care. He was going to get dirty anyway. "Not that you're my plan B, but what I mean is...well...I just...I'm happy to be out here!" 

Mason laughed again, head thrown back, and shook his head as he looked up and into the clouds. The sun fought to cut through, its light dimmed temporarily. "I'm happy you're out here," he said to Spencer, and gave the wet grass beside him a pat. "Come join me as I attempt to save the garden." 

"It's starting to get really cold," Spencer said sadly as he kneeled on the grass, the wet soaked through his pants. "Do you think they'll last much longer?" 

"I'll fight to see that they do," Mason replied. "Ah, Spencer, without my gardens I'm sure to grow bored," Mason told him, voice filled with sorrow.

Spencer frowned, he put on the extra pair of gloves once Mason handed them to him. He smiled softly at the rough feel as he put them on his palms. "I can try to help with other things, too," he told Mason. "I just...I don't know if I'll be good at it." 

"Ah, the main thing is that you don't give up on it," Mason advised him. "You can be terrible at something, but if you work for it? If you truly want it? You can grow to be incredible at it." 

Spencer smiled fondly at him. "That's what I tried to tell Liam," he said. 

"How have things been going with that young man?" Mason asked, his voice carried a note that showed Spencer that there was much more meaning to the question. 

"Slow and steady," Spencer replied. 

"Ah," Mason responded. "That does win the race." 

"Yeah," Spencer said, he bit his lip and rolled some of the soil in the palm of the rough gloves. "I guess it does...hey, Mason?" 

"Yes?" 

"Does anything ever help you sleep?" Spencer inquired. At Mason's blank look, he went on to explain, "You said you have insomnia...and...well...lately I can't sleep. I can barely close my eyes." 

"Your eidetic memory is quite the burden, is it not?" Mason asked him sympathetically. At Spencer's sad little nod, he sighed and removed his gloves, and proceeded put a coarse palm on the young boy's shoulder. "The day you're able to close your eyes and images of the past do not bombard your soul with untold horrors, is the day you should worry." 

Spencer sniffled slightly, as his eyes started to grow as wet as the grass the leaked through the material of his khakis to touch the skin of his knees. He nodded his head in understanding, but it didn't help settle the emotions that twisted around inside of him. "But what if the horrors grow too much?" 

Mason removed his hand from his shoulder, and briefly ran it over his face, the ridges scratched at it slightly. He then just let it drop to his side. "Spencer, I know what it is like to have emotions eat away at you. Tear at your soul. Make you feel as though you're drowning just beneath the surface as someone hugs at your ankles, making it so you just can't reach the air. I know. Believe me, I know. The day that grows too much? You find a way to handle it." 

"Is this your way to handle it?" Spencer inquired. At Mason's perplexed expression, he elaborated, "The garden." 

"Yes, Spencer," Mason answered. "The garden." 

"Then it must be even sadder when the weather turns so cold," Spencer said. 

"It is," Mason agreed sadly. "Indeed, Spencer, it is." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Do I look fabulous?" Penelope asked as she did a spin, the pink tutu of her homecoming dress fanned out with the air. She'd gotten the pink bedazzled one she'd tried on that day in the mall. Her hair was pulled up into a gorgeous updo, her glasses were large pink cat eyes, she had bedazzled heels, and her eye makeup sparkled. "Or do I look fabulous?" She asked as she stopped her spin on the toes of her heels, and struck a dramatic pose. 

"Babygirl, if you looked any more beautiful they would have to make a religion to worship you," Derek told her as he stood up off his bed and walked over to kiss her brightly colored cheek. 

"Mmm, my beautiful sweet treat," she purred and ran a well manicured hand down his face. "People should already bow down before me."

"With pleasure, mama," Derek purred back. 

"Well, I'm going to be sick," Emily announced as she entered the room. David whistled low. She looked stunning. She was in the dress she'd picked out with Penelope, and had a silver necklace that hung on her neck, silver earrings, black kitten heels, and her hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail. 

"Oh, my dear Emily," Penelope said as she walked towards her, her heels clacked on the hardwood, and she reached to grab one of Emily's hand. "How are men not throwing themselves at our feet?" 

"Because they know we'd walk all over them," Emily replied.

"It would be their honor," Penelope shot back, and they both laughed. 

Spencer looked at Aaron, who had set beside him on Spencer's bed. They were both dressed up, and watched the scene. "I don't get it," Spencer said to him desperately. 

Aaron looked at him, smirked, and gave him a pat on the back. 

David opened the door when another knock sounded on it, and Jennifer entered. She smiled at everyone. She wore a sapphire dress that rest just above her knees. It poofed out just a little bit at the bottom, not quite as extreme as Penelope's own, and cinched in at the waist, there was a design on the back of it, a little bit of embellishment on the straps, and she wore shoes that glistened in the light. Her hair was pulled back still, and her makeup was done in a way that no longer made her look tired. She looked beautiful. 

"Okay, we're officially going to ruin homecoming for every other girl there," Penelope stated as she looked at Jennifer. 

"You two look amazing," Jennifer said as she walked forward and accepted a hug from Penelope. Emily just stared at her, and gave her a strained smile. At least it was an effort. 

"Okay, ladies," Derek said, he smiled at the scene. "I'm afraid you won't be able to go to homecoming. There is way too much gorgeous between the three of you." 

"The four of you aren't half bad," Penelope returned with another sly grin as she released Jennifer. She then looked at Spencer, and proceeded to look as though she just saw a cute little puppy. "Look at how cute Spencer looks!" 

"Yeah, mama," Derek started as he looked at Spencer, who had groaned and hung his head. He'd gel'd back his hair, so it didn't fall in his face that time. "I'm sure that is just what the kid was going for."

"You look great, Spence," Jennifer assured him. Spencer raised his head hesitantly, and when he saw she wasn't mocking him, he beamed at her. 

"Aww, he's going to have all the girls all over him by prom," David jokingly cooed. Spencer glared at him through the large lenses of his glasses. 

"Don't sell the kid short, I say they'll be all over him by winter formal," Derek countered. 

Spencer looked at Aaron in confusion. "I can't tell if they're mocking me or not." 

"Just ignore them," Aaron advised him. "It always works for me." 

Derek rolled his eyes and approached Spencer's bed, he stuck his hand out. "Come on, pretty boy, we have the great responsibility of escorting these gorgeous ladies to homecoming." 

Spencer allowed himself to be tugged up by his wrist, and awkwardly stumbled to his feet like a newborn fawn. Derek stuck his hand out, and Spencer saw his life flash before his eyes as the man brought it towards his hair.

"NO!" He screeched and bat the hand away, hard. Derek looked at him in surprise, and Spencer glared at him. "It took me thirty-three minutes and twenty-four seconds to get my hair like this! You're not ruining it!" 

Derek's hand was still frozen right above the slicked back strands over Spencer's hair, his body perfectly still, until a rumble was heard and he started to laugh heartily. He let his hand fall on Spencer's shoulder, and shook the boy lovingly. "Whatever, kid, let's get going."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"I've never been to one of these," Spencer informed Emily as the group walked together into the gymnasium turned homecoming dance room. The lights were a little too dim, and they had this corny disco ball thing. "It's dark and loud." 

"Not to mention crowded," Emily agreed, she had to talk loudly over the music. "I hate these things. Sweaty, loud, crowded, and the music always sucks." 

"Way to stay optimistic, Em," Derek joked, and gave the brunette a pat on her exposed shoulder. "Unlike you, I love things like this." 

"Well, getting hot, sweaty, and rubbing up against people you barely know is one of your favorite past-times," Emily pointed out dryly. 

Derek grinned and winked. "Exactly." 

Derek started to walk into the crowd of people, and Spencer whimpered anxiously as he looked up at Emily with large fearful eyes. "Are we all going to split up?" He inquired woefully. 

Emily smiled softly at him. "No," she denied. "Derek's probably either going to grab some punch, or to go grind up against a girl for a few minutes. Don't worry, one of us will be with you at all times." 

"Good," Spencer said with relief. "I don't do well with crowds of people." 

"Yeah, I kind of predicted that," Emily replied. It wasn't said cruelly, in fact, it was said with a smile. 

Penelope and Jennifer ran to dance, hand in hand, while Aaron and David reluctantly followed. "Shouldn't we all be searching for Liam?" Spencer asked, he leaned in closely to Emily so no one could overhear. 

"They probably are keeping an eye out," Emily replied. She then placed a gentle hand on Spencer's bicep. "Come on." She nudged her head to the side. "Let's go find somewhere quiet for when they get tired of bumping and grinding." 

"I thought people didn't even dance at these things," Spencer said as he followed her around. "I knew someone who said everyone just stands around and talks." 

"Sadly our group of friends aren't that pleasant," Emily replied. They walked to a corner wall and stood there, they leaned against it and watched the scene unfold. 

"Pretty lame, isn't it?" Emily asked. "I've always hated these things. But Penelope loves them, and she'd be heartbroken if I didn't come." 

"It's not my type of thing," Spencer answered, he had to yell over the music. "You can barely talk in here!" 

"I bet clubs are more fun than this," Emily told him. "At least at clubs you can drink!" 

Spencer just shrugged, he was pretty certain he wouldn't like clubs all that much, either. 

Spencer liked peace and quiet. He liked to sit and read a book, ponder his day, and enjoy the silence. He enjoyed the company he'd earned that year, but no matter what, he was pretty sure dances would never be his thing. The music gave him a migraine, the odd lighting added to it, and he was in formal wear with the room making him sweat. Not to mention the fact he hadn't a clue how to dance. 

"Hey! Over there!" Emily whacked him in the arm and pointed across from them where Liam stood with Scarlett. Scarlett was in a red homecoming dress, and her fiery hair was pulled up highly, she watched the dance floor in disgust and whispered to Liam. "She is so pretentious." 

Spencer looked at Emily with surprise. "Not very fond of her, myself." 

"She's mean to everyone," Emily explained. She had leaned close to Spencer, even though she had to have been nearing certainty that they couldn't hear her from across the room with all the noise going on. "Don't trust her. Not even for a second." 

"Did she do something to you?" Spencer inquired. 

"They've done something to all of us," Emily replied cryptically. 

They were both silent for a little while, even as the songs switched not a word was said. It wasn't uncomfortable for Spencer, not really. He simply was thankful for the fact that he wasn't left alone to stand in the corner of the crowded room. 

When he looked back at Emily, he noticed she wasn't looking at Liam, but instead at the dance floor where Jennifer, Penelope, Aaron, David, and Derek were dancing. Penelope had probably forced them all to make this silly little circle, and they all danced rather ridiculous, but it looked fun. Emily seemed to be particularly observing Jennifer. 

"Are you upset she came back?" Spencer inquired. Emily blinked in surprise and tore her eyes away from the scene to look at Spencer in confusion. "Jennifer," he explained. 

Emily continued to look at Spencer in surprise, and then her eyes darted from the group dancing back to him. She looked as though she were contemplating her words thoroughly. Spencer just waited, he'd learned it was better not to force people to talk, they'd tell you things in their own time. 

"More like I'm pissed she left in the first place," Emily replied honestly. "Don't you just love how she left and only comes back when she needs something?" 

Spencer frowned, he could see why Emily viewed it that way. He hadn't been around when the whole group had been friends with her, so he hadn't a clue how the former interactions used to go. "I don't know why she'd ever stop hanging are you guys," Spencer told her. "You guys are great." 

Emily laughed at that, and looked at Spencer, as though to see if he were kidding. "Well, I guess you're right," she agreed with amusement. "We are great." She lightly tapped his shoulder. "So are you." 

Spencer looked at the ground, and kicked his feet against it slightly. He was pretty sure he would have heard a squeak if the music weren't so loud. "I don't think she would have come with you guys tonight if she didn't want to be friends." 

Emily scoffed. "She came with us because she had no other option."

"She lied," Spencer informed her. Emily looked at him with confusion once more. "Only two of the girls she hangs around with have dates, the others are in a group. She could have gone with them, but she didn't want to." 

Emily looked over at the group of Jennifer's friends. They weren't dancing, they were all standing in another corner, they whispered to each other fervently and looked at Jennifer. 

"I don't think you're mad at her," Spencer explained softly. Emily stared at him, taken aback. Spencer always found it amusing how when she was surprised her mouth hung open slightly, and her eyes went wide. She always tried to appear stone-faced when faced with those situations, but she never quite succeeded. "I think you're hurt. But it's a lot easier to be angry than it is to be hurt."

"You speak with experience," Emily observed. 

Spencer had felt surprised, he hadn't expected that as a response. Part of him knew it was almost deflection. Emily didn't want to talk about herself, so she moved the topic onto himself. But it hadn't thrown him off any less with that knowledge. 

Spencer shrugged his shoulders, and glanced at the bright lights that had begun to strobe through the room. It hurt his vision, sent pangs that ripped through his head and made him dizzy. "Being angry doesn't make the pain go away. The more anger you build up, the more it rips you to shreds. The only way to get rid of your pain is to feel it." 

"Or confront it," Emily added, her eyes still stared at Jennifer. 

"Or confront it," Spencer confirmed. "You're not a petty person, Emily, and you're not mean or angry. Don't start acting like it." 

"You've only known me for a month. How could you possibly know any of that is true?" 

"Exactly. I've known you for only a month, and even I know this," Spencer said with a smile. Emily laughed. "You should talk to her." 

"I'll think about," Emily assured him. "Hey, Spencer?" He hummed, though unsure if it could be heard. "You ever felt like you sometimes have to act like someone else just to deal?" 

"Yes, but I can't," he replied. "I've tried before, but the only person I can truly be is myself." 

"That's a good thing," Emily told him. He looked at her in confusion, and she explained, "You're a good guy. Don't ever try to be anyone else." 

"I won't," he promised her softly. He felt a warmth spread through his middle. He'd never been well liked for being who he was. He was different. Talked too much at all the wrong times, and was quiet when something needed to be said. Spencer spent most of his young life feeling like a freak. To be told to be himself? It meant more to him than Emily would ever know. 

"Good," Emily said. She looked around the room, her eyes drifted to Liam and then back to the dance floor. She laughed. "You know what? Screw it." Her warm palm gripped Spencer's own and she begun to drag him towards the dance floor. "We can see him from over here." 

"What?! I don't know how to dance!" Spencer cried out, and put up feeble resistance. 

"You'll learn," Emily answered as she tugged Spencer all the way over to their group of friends. They all made room, and Penelope cried out in delight. Derek grinned widely at Spencer and gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. 

It was sweaty, loud, and people kept bumping into them. Spencer hadn't a clue how to dance, so he attempted to mirror some of what Derek did, and failed miserably. Penelope had observed his troubles, and found the solution was to dance as ridiculously as possible so Spencer didn't feel bad. She waved her arms like a maniac, and did some of the most ridiculous things Spencer had ever seen a human being do. To make matters worse? The whole group had followed suit, and they were automatically the most ludicrous group on the dance floor.

The worst part of it? He actually had fun.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"So, Spencer," Derek tossed an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. Sweat glistened on his skin, and his breath was slightly labored. "What do you think so far?" 

"I'm sweaty and tired," Spencer whined. 

"Ah yes," David chimed in, grin spread on his face. "I've felt that way many times before." 

Penelope whacked him on the shoulder blade. "Don't be so pervy!" 

"When does this thing end?" Spencer inquired. The one time he hadn't read up on a subject, and it had come back to bite him. He'd never been to a homecoming dance before, it seemed like it would be similar to lining a pig up to the slaughterhouse, nor had he ever danced with a group of people...or...well...danced ever. 

"Not for a little while longer," Derek told him loudly over the music. Spencer whimpered, he knew he'd be near deaf the next day. "Relax, genius. We'll get some punch and chill for a bit." 

"You so sure about the punch thing?" David asked, he eyed the bowl suspiciously. 

"Man, there's no way he poisoned the whole punch bowl. Everyone would be dead by now," Derek replied. They all approached the bowl, and Jennifer was the first to pour herself a cup into one of the pathetic sized glasses that would take about ten to actually hydrate someone.

"Oh man, look at Katie, Derek," David told him and whacked the other boy in the arm as he pointed towards the dance floor. Everyone looked along with him, and Jennifer sat her cup down on the punch table for a minute to stare. Katie Stevens, the girl Derek had taken to homecoming sophomore year, was giving him the evil-eye as she grinded against one of the other football players. When she saw she'd gained Derek's attention, a pleased smirk spread on her lips, and she flipped her gaze away from him with a toss of the air, and continued to grind. Derek laughed. 

"Man, chicks just don't let things go," Derek said as he laughed. 

"Well you did have sex with her and break up with her a month later," Emily reminded him. He looked at her in surprise for her remark. "Kind of ashamed to even know you for that one." 

"It wasn't anything serious! It was casual," Derek justified as he continued to watch the brunnette dance with her more than accommodating partner. "But I obviously left an impression." 

"Yeah, you left an impression all right; right on her neck, you jerk," David reminded him. Derek laughed and shook his head. 

"Oh, that was awful," Penelope said sympathetically, as she also watched Katie. "She was forced to remove that scarf in the middle of class." She whacked Derek on the chest. "I thought you more of a gentleman." 

"Babygirl, I am," he assured her. "She bit first!"

"I really don't need to know the details of this," Emily said, both hands held up, she looked as though the most sickening imagery possible had been shoved in her mind. 

Jennifer rolled her eyes and turned back around, she reached for her cup. 

"Hey, was anyone watching that?" Aaron asked her loudly, above the music. She frowned at him and shook her head.

"I only left it for a second-." Jennifer looked down at her glass, and her whole being froze as a hand shot up to cover her mouth. The whole group looked at her in concern, as her hand begun to tremor. Aaron was the first to act and shot forward before Jennifer's glass could slip from her slackened grip. 

They all leaned forward to see what it was, and all their eyes widened. For what floated at the top of the glass of punch was a skull with two crossbones on it. The symbol of toxicity. 

"I-I don't understand," Penelope said. No one paid any attention to them. They all danced, listened to the music, made out with their dates. No one knew the danger that surrounded them. No one knew that someone in that room was a killer. No one knew how in danger they really were. 

"I don't get it. Wh-Why would anyone...why would they leave that in my glass if they wanted me to drink it?" Jennifer stuttered out. Her voice was almost washed away by the upbeat party music that they room was saturated in. 

"They didn't want you to drink it," Aaron said. Everyone focused on him, it was as though the rest of the room grew silent, the music was washed away, as were the people. They were the only ones in the room at that moment. "This wasn't a murder attempt. This was a warning," Aaron said. 

There was a long pause, as the reality of the situation became apparent to all of them. Spencer felt as though time had stood still. Every noise was officially drowned out, except an insanely loud ringing in his ears.

That all went away when Aaron spoke,

"They know."


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After many events of true horror, it is now Spencer's birthday.

The days that followed homecoming were rough, and provided little to no sleep for the group. Spencer's own birthday was to arrive, and he'd quite honestly forgotten all about it. Homecoming had started out enjoyable, fun, care-free, even. For a second they had almost all forgotten about their problems. For a second they were normal teenagers. But Liam's words seemed to pop back into Spencer's head...

"You take your eye off something for one second, and you lose."

~.~.~.~.~.

"Am I the next target?!" Jennifer had asked, Spencer could practically hear her heart pound in her chest. They stood in the hallway, so they could talk without the music. None of the other kids were around them, all too busy dancing, and laughing with friends. Derek had dumped the drink out, along with the skull and crossbones image. No one at the school would have taken it seriously if they were shown it. Not Erin Strauss, not Mateo Cruz, no one. They all would have taken it as a joke, or written it off as stupid childish play. 

"I think we all are," Aaron replied, his voice didn't waver, but there was still fear hidden deep. The air around them felt thick, and he was sure they all felt as though there were a weight on their shoulders. "Whoever this is...Liam...or someone else, they know that we know." 

"Are we all going to die?" Penelope asked. Wetness covered her eyes, it threatened to spill past. Her hands shook, and her lips tremored. The vision of the earlier, peppy, confidant girl, had appeared once more in Spencer's mind, and it made his chest ache. 

"Of course not, babygirl," Derek assured her. He wrapped an arm around her and proceeded to place a sweet kiss into her blonde hair. "We're going to be fine. I'll make sure of it." 

"So one of us goes next?" David asked, his own voice shook slightly. "That's nuts."

"Was the drink poisoned?" Jennifer asked. 

"I highly doubt it," Spencer replied. "With the time it took them to put the image of the skull and crossbones on the drink, I doubt they took the time prior to poison it." He looked at them anxiously, and then his eyes landed on Derek. "But just in case, please tell me you didn't get any on your skin." 

"No," Derek replied. "I'm positive. I dumped it out in the toilets in the bathroom. Didn't spill a drop anywhere." He gave Spencer a look. "I read about things, too, pretty boy." 

Spencer nodded, and tried to uphold a calm exterior; but it was proving difficult. His insides twisted, and he felt bile crawl its way up his throat. He was petrified. Whoever it was knew that they knew the true nature of the killings. If it was Liam, Spencer wondered what had he done wrong? 

"It's my fault," he said, voice choked and his throat felt constricted. "I must have done something wrong."

"Spence." Jennifer surprised him by being the first to approach him. She gently placed a caring hand on his shoulder, it shook slightly. "It's not your fault, okay? You didn't do anything wrong."

"I...I thought everything through," Spencer said to them, more to comfort himself. His voice still shook, as did his form. He no longer felt overwhelming heat on his skin, but instead an icy coolness that ran straight to his bone. "I didn't think I messed up..."

"You didn't," Jennifer assured him. "This was bound to happen. I mean, we're talking about people being poisoned in the middle of the dining hall! Anyone could have heard." 

"Spencer, you didn't do anything wrong," Aaron said. His hand hovered of the younger boy's back, not quite making contact, but Spencer could feel the heat that radiated off of it. It collided with the ice cold chill of his body and made his shivering increase ten fold. 

"Maybe we should get out of here," Derek suggested. "Not sure if it's safe for us to stay." He still had his arm wrapped around Penelope, and her head rest on his chest. 

"I-I don't think I'll be able to sleep," Penelope stuttered out. She continued to shake up against Derek's firm chest, and one of her hands clasped the material of his jacket desperately. It broke Spencer's heart once more, Penelope just wanted one night where she wouldn't have to worry about the whole thing, and it had been ruined. 

"Just try, sweetness," Derek said to her softly. "Just try." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

By the time of the next morning, Spencer had only gotten thirty minutes of sleep. The chronic dark circles under his eyes impossibly darkened, and with the mix of his pale white skin he looked as though he should be the star of a zombie horror movie. Derek immediately gave him a look of concern, and pity, when he stumbled out of his bed on weak legs. He'd felt as though his whole body was supported by two toothpicks. 

"You should get back in bed, kid," Derek told him tiredly as he got out of his own bed. He tossed the blankets and let them land in a crumpled mess. "You're not going to be able to focus." 

"I'll be fine," Spencer argued; but his argument was ultimately unconvincing when a yawn slipped through his defences. "The record for the longest period of time without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes," Spencer informed them. 

"I wouldn't set that as a life goal," Aaron replied as he got out of bed himself. He hadn't looked much better than Spencer, but his coordination was more in tact. "We can tell everyone you're sick." 

"I'm fine," Spencer unintentionally snapped at them. "You guys need me." 

"Kid, you need to rest," Derek said, obviously too tired for an honest argument.

"You guys can't stop me from going to breakfast," Spencer reminded them. He glared at them defiantly as he pulled open his dresser drawers. The mere force of the action almost had him stumbling backwards, but he quickly recovered. "I can go to breakfast if I want to," he continued, he pulled out his clothes, and attempted to push past his concerned roommates. 

"Spencer." Aaron's voice had halted him before he was able to grasp the doorknob. "You have nothing to prove." 

He ignored it and pushed the door open, anyway.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"We can't talk about it here anymore," Emily told them at breakfast. Her eyes cast a dark stare around in the dining hall. "It's not safe." 

"He's sitting all the way over there," Derek replied, voice low as his eyes drifted over to Liam's table. "I doubt he can hear us." 

"If it's him," Aaron corrected. Derek leveled him with a glare. 

"Spencer, sweetie, you need more sleep," Penelope told him softly. She hadn't looked like one to talk, she looked nearly as exhausted as he did, and felt. She smiled at him softly, understandingly. 

"I'm fine," he replied. His eyes dropped slightly as he focused on his egg, and his glasses nearly slipped off of his face when he jolted in attempt to wake up. 

"Yeah, you seem fine," Emily said sarcastically. 

"It's Sunday," Spencer reminded them. He lifted his piece of buttered toast with great effort. "We don't even have class on Sunday." He paused for a moment. "Besides, I'll be aware enough to notice any changes in Liam's behav-." He was shocked to be cut off by Derek.

"No way in hell," Derek snapped. Spencer looked at him, stunned, as did the rest of the table. Derek dropped his fork onto his plate, so it made a noisy clatter. "You're not going to be doing this secret agent mission anymore, Spencer. It's over. It was a stupid idea to begin with, and now, if it is Liam, then he knows that you know." Derek looked around the table. "Do you all really want to send him out with a murderer who knows Spencer knows he committed the crimes?" 

"There was way too much 'knows' in there for me to follow," Emily joked. Derek just glared at her. 

"Derek is right," Aaron said. "It's too dangerous." 

"No it's not," Spencer argued. "This is the perfect time for me to continue this! He'll be off his game, his mood will switch, I'll be able to detect more changes than before!" 

"No," Aaron replied firmly. His eyes showed that he would not waver on his decision. They were intense, and bore right into Spencer's own. "You're not going to keep hanging around them, Spencer."

"Then we're just going to let more people die then?" Spencer hissed. "I'm our only play, and you know it." 

"That's not true," Aaron argued back at him. "We have other options. We'll work something else out. But I'm not sending you back out with him." 

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, the fact he was insulted, or his inner terror, that made Spencer make his next move. "You can't control who I hang out with," he told Aaron, his eyes defiant and daring. "If I wanted to continue to hang around Liam's group, and see for myself if I can dig up anything, then you couldn't stop me." 

He watched Aaron's face go from his usual stern strictness, to one of absolute surprise. The whole atmosphere of the table changed, and Spencer felt adrenaline pump through his veins. 

"You need sleep, Spencer," was all Aaron said to him. 

"Maybe I should go finish breakfast with them," Spencer said daringly. Aaron looked at him, almost in confusion, as did the rest of the table. "If you won't finish this, I'll do it myself." 

"I never said I wouldn't finish this," Aaron snapped at him, he made sure to keep the volume of his voice down. "I'm saying there are other ways." 

"Like what?" Spencer asked. "Penelope has traced his history back to the day of his birth, Aaron. I'm the only move we have left." 

"He sent a warning to our whole group," Aaron hissed at him, he leaned over Derek, who sat in between the two of them. "Do you want to be the first one he takes out?"

"What are our other options, Aaron? Because you keep saying we have them, yet you haven't mentioned a single one," Spencer snapped at him, because of his anger his voice rose slightly in volume. "I'm not weak. I can do this." 

"Nobody ever said you were weak," Aaron said, his voice almost seemed to soften, but the confusion in his eyes worsened.

"Spence," Jennifer whispered, and reached a hand across the table to lightly touch his arm. He flinched. "You have to lower your voice." 

Spencer was about to say something else, possibly snap at her, but another, larger, hand touched his shoulder. "Kid," Derek spoke calmly. "How about this, you don't hang around with them today." When Spencer opened his mouth to reply, Derek held up his other hand. "Just let it rest for today, okay? We'll talk about it later." 

"Today is the best day to do it," Spencer argued. "It's the day directly after." 

"Spencer, take a look at yourself," David finally spoke up. "You're spent." When Spencer went to talk, he continued, "We all are. You're fifteen years old, Spencer. You're having your life threatened, we're all in danger, you're scared, you're tired, and you're in no condition to be of any use. Your perception is clouded, things that might be nothing will seem like everything." 

"I've written a ten page essay without sleeping for two days," Spencer informed him. "I can do this." 

"Were you scared for your life when writing the essay?" David inquired. At Spencer's silence, he continued, "Didn't think so." 

"What on earth possessed you not to sleep for two days?" Penelope asked him. "That's bordering on dangerous." 

"I had a lot going on," he replied dully. His Mother had been having terrible episodes, and his Father had gone away for a few days. He'd stayed up attempting to calm her. She'd been refusing medicine, said it made her feel worse. Made her brain foggy, her movements slow, even said it impaired her ability to take care of him.

"Spence," Jennifer spoke again, softly. Spencer still hadn't a clue of what to make of her. He hadn't known her for long, but she almost seemed as though she were fond of him. "I haven't slept well since I've got here, and I can honestly say I feel like the yolks of these eggs are staring me down," she joked. "We can all talk about this later, okay?" 

Spencer paused, and then took another bite out of his toast, he frowned when crumbs went all down the front of him. "You guys do know you're not supposed to question a genius, right?" 

"Yeah, genius, you're covered in bread crumbs," David replied, and tossed a balled up napkin at Spencer's head. 

~.~.~.~.~.

"Mom?" Spencer asked. He walked hesitantly into his Mother's bedroom. The curtains were drawn shut, the room had nearly no light in it. There were books everywhere. Scattered all over the bed, they rest atop of the sleeping form of his Mother. One still held in her hand. He'd warned her not to read in the dark, but she rarely heeded his words. "Come on, Mom, you need to wake up." 

He approached her bed and got a better look at her. Her long blonde hair was skewed out all around her, unkempt. She wore the same nightgown she'd been dressed in for four days, and her bones pressed up against her skin tightly, it stretched it thin. She was so pale, even more pale than himself. Diana Reid rarely had the energy to go outside, and when she did she slicked her skin with SPF. Her doctor continuously said how she needed more vitamin D, and told her if she wasn't going to go out in the sun she'd need to take pills for it. She never took them. Said the sun would hurt her more than it would help her, and that she didn't need the pills.

It was like her cheeks sunk in the closer he got to her, as though with every step she grew more and more malnourished. Spencer felt as though it were his fault, when it had come to that. Diana Reid often forgot to do basic things for herself, it was supposed to fall on him to make sure she even did them at all. William Reid never took the effort to do it himself, of course, he was rarely ever home. 

"Mom, come on, you've got to get up. It's 1:00," he pleaded. Diana's eyelids started to crack open, but just as quickly as they did, they slid shut again. Spencer released a groan of frustration and stormed the rest of the way over to the bed, he nearly tripped over books as he walked. "Mom!" He cried out, and placed both hands on her shoulders to shake her. "Come on! You need to eat." 

A groan emitted from Diana's lips, but nothing else. Spencer sighed in frustrated. "Come on! Your doctor says you have to get on a better schedule." 

"You can't help me," Diana whispered. Spencer stared at her in confusion.

"Mom?" He asked. 

"You could never help me, and you couldn't help them," came the hushed voice of Diana. Her eyes snapped open, accusation ran rampant in them. Spencer flinched back, and nearly tumbled backwards. "You couldn't help them, you just let them die." 

"Mom?" He whimpered out again. He stumbled back, and that time he actually tripped over one of the books and collided onto the floor. It was weird, he mused, it didn't hurt. 

"You revealed yourself, and now you're all going to die," she told him, her voice void of emotion, her eyes dead. Just like Kathryne's were. Cold, dead eyes that bore into his own, scarred his brain, made his mouth go dry, and his ears ring. 

"Mom," he whimpered out the name once more. His eyes watered and burned, and his whole form shook as he looked at her up on the bed, her eyes vacant, no sign of Diana Reid remained. "Mom, please..." 

"It's your fault," she continued. "You're weak, Spencer."

"I'm not weak!" He cried out woefully. 

"You're weak," she went on, and Spencer cowered pitifully from the cruel face with no sign of his Mother visible. "You're weak, and because of you, wake up Spencer!" She shouted at him.

"Mom!" 

"Wake up, Spencer!" She continued to shout. "Wake up, kid! You've got to wake up!" 

"Mom!" 

"SPENCER, WAKE UP!" Spencer's eyes flew open, and he gasped and pushed at the hands on his shoulders. "Kid, you okay?" 

Spencer looked around the darkened room. It wasn't his Mother's bedroom, not by a long shot. It was still dark, the curtains drawn and he assumed the sun had barely even come up. Aaron was seated upright in bed, and Derek was seated on the side of Spencer's, hands held up to hover just above his shoulders as Spencer took in his surroundings, panicked. 

"Spencer, calm down," Aaron spoke up, his voice groggy. He pushed his blankets off himself and got up, he stumbled across the room until he was able to locate the lightswitch and flick it on. The light made Spencer cover his eyes and release a small cry. 

"My Mom..." He attempted to articulate, but the words got caught in his throat, along with the sob that bubbled up. "My fault," he managed to get out. "Said it was my fault." 

"It was a dream, Spencer," Aaron said, he yawned soon after. He'd made his way across the room, until he plopped down beside Derek on Spencer's bed. Spencer closed his eyes, but the image of his Mother came back full force, and another strangled cry made its way through his lips. 

"Kid, it was just a dream," Derek told him softly, if Spencer had been more conscious, he would have realized what a horrible awkward situation he was in. "Everything is alright." 

"Are we still being pursued by a killer who is poisoning kids at this school?" Spencer asked, voice bleak. "Or did I dream that up, too?" 

Days had passed since Aaron had last promised that they'd discuss Spencer's affiliation with Liam's group. So far? Barely anyone in their group had spoken, period. Everyone was too petrified to talk at breakfast, and no one showed up in Aaron's room, either. They were constantly looking over their shoulders, and Spencer was being forced to dodge Liam after all his classes. He'd been tempted to do what he said he'd do and go against the groups wishes to pursue Liam anyway, but found he didn't have it in him. Maybe deep down, he was just as petrified to by near him as the others were to let him near him. 

"Kid, it's too early in the damn morning to be fearing for our lives," Derek joked. Spencer couldn't help but quirk his lips up slightly. "It's another hour until the alarm goes off, so how about you try to catch up on a little more sleep, huh? It's a big day." 

Spencer frowned. "Why is it a big day?" 

Derek looked at him in disbelief, as did Aaron. But they both quickly slipped into amusement. "You don't know what day it is, do you?" Aaron inquired. 

"...Thursday?" Spencer guessed, still confused. 

"Come on, eidetic memory," Derek said, still amused, he tapped his head. "Really think about it for a minute." 

Spencer paused for a moment, his eyes shot up to the sky, contemplative. His bottom lip was hugged in between his teeth, and he scrunched up his brow. He was just about positive it was the second thursday of October. "I got nothing," he admitted. 

"It's October 9th, genius," Derek informed him. "Happy Birthday." 

Spencer's eyes widened comically, and Aaron looked as though he had to bite the inside of his cheek really hard to keep from laughing. Spencer smacked himself in the forehead. "I have an IQ of 187 and I forgot it was my birthday!" He cried out in dismay. 

Derek laughed. "Hey, don't worry about it. Looks to me like you had a pretty tough night." 

"I'm sixteen!" Spencer continued on in shock.

"At least you can still do math," Derek quipped. Spencer glowered at him, and Derek just cracked up again.

"Happy Birthday, Spencer," Aaron told him softly, Spencer smiled gratefully at him. Although, his friendship with Aaron had felt...strained since he'd stood up to him at breakfast that morning. It wasn't as though he had begun to dislike the older boy's company...he just hated how Aaron constantly seemed to be watching over his every move. As though Spencer were to make a fatal slip up at any given moment. "Derek is right, try to get some more sleep." He paused, and cocked his head to the side. "Unless...do you want to talk about it?" 

Derek looked at Spencer expectantly, along with Aaron. Spencer just squirmed uncomfortably under their gaze. "Thanks for the happy birthday wishes," Spencer replied awkwardly, he then rolled over on his side, to face away from them. "I'll see you in an hour." 

"Alright, kid," Derek was the first to reply, and gave him a smack on the shoulder. "Get some rest, babygirl is gonna be all over you." 

Spencer snorted. "Oh God," he moaned. He heard the bed screech, and the two boys lifted themselves off of it. "Hey guys," he called out hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Aaron asked. 

"Thanks for remembering," he said softly. 

"No problem, kid," Derek replied softly. "Get some rest."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"LOOK AT THE SIXTEEN YEAR OLD!" Penelope squealed as Spencer approached their table for breakfast. She stood up, and rushed over to him as Spencer quickly set his food down on the table before Penelope pulled him into a tight hug. "You're growing up so fast!"

"...Penelope, you've only known me for a little over a month," Spencer pointed out. He wrapped his arms around the blonde, and hid his face in her hair when he saw that most of the dining hall was staring at them. 

"WHEN YOU CAME HERE YOU WERE JUST A CATERPILLAR!" She announced loudly, most of the room was snickering by that point. "NOW YOU'RE A GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY!" 

Spencer cast a look over to Derek, who stood beside the table with his own food, his body shook with witheld laughter. "Help me," Spencer mouthed out, his eyes pleaded with the older boy. 

"Babygirl," Derek begun, but was cut off by someone unexpected.

"Miss Garcia," the cool voice of Erin Strauss made Penelope's arms freeze around Spencer's tiny form. She looked up hesitantly at the fellow blonde. "I understand this is a rather exciting day for Spencer, but I'm afraid I will have to ask you to halt the celebration momentarily. Especially since I feel you're bringing an uncomfortable amount of attention to him." Erin smiled slightly when Penelope slowly pulled away from Spencer, who gave her a tight smile. "Happy Birthday," Erin told him softly. 

"Thank you, ma'am," Spencer replied. 

Erin nodded her head efficiently, and then proceeded to walk away, her heels clacked loudly on the floor. 

"Happy Birthday, Spence," Jennifer said to him, she stood up, but she gave a much shorter hug than Penelope had given him. 

"Happy Birthday, Spencer," David greeted from his place at the table. "But if you don't mind, I'm going to skip the hug and just offer my happy birthday wishes from afar." 

"That is a present in itself," Spencer replied to him as he sat down at the table. 

"Not much of a birthday breakfast," Emily told him as she looked down at his undercooked egg, the white part ran everywhere. "This place doesn't know how to cook eggs for shit." 

"Is that why you're only eating a bowl of cereal?" Spencer inquired. 

"Mhm. Yesterday I was puking my guts out because of a bad breakfast sausage," Emily told him. 

Penelope looked at her expectantly. "Don't you have something to say to Spencer?"

Jennifer grinned. "I think it got lost in the breakfast rant." 

"Happy Birthday, Spencer," Emily told him sincerely. "Please don't catch salmonella."

"Thank you; and I actually think what you meant to say is for me to try to avoid salmonellosis, a type of food poisoning. You see, salmonellosis is caused by the Salmonella enterica bacterium. There are many different kinds of these bacteria. Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and Salmonella serotype Enteritidis are the most common in the United States," Spencer corrected her. 

"Thank you, Spencer," Emily said. "You know, just this morning I was thinking to myself that I didn't know enough about the various types of food poisoning."

"Can we not talk about poisoning?" Penelope pleaded under her breath. "Of any kind?" 

"We agreed not to bring it up at breakfast," David reminded her. 

Spencer rolled his eyes, as did Derek, and they both just ate and didn't say a word. Derek was probably the person most strongly against Spencer going back to Liam's group, but he also was a doer, sitting back and doing nothing wasn't in his nature. He'd begun to climb walls. Spencer considered not even fighting to get back into Liam's group, and just waiting for the whole group's "plan" to implode. 

"Spencer, you like chocolate, right?" 

"What? Yes." 

"Great!"

~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had felt like a total fool as he kept dodging Liam. He had no idea how everyone expected him to do it casually. Every time the boy came up to him, Spencer had to pretty much scurry away. Subtlety wasn't exactly something he had been taught. For what it was worth, though, Liam hadn't seemed all that put off by Spencer's avoidance of him...which Spencer had to work out in his mind what that meant. 

He'd wanted to explain to the rest of his friends how he didn't truly feel as though he were at risk. The target seemed to be sports players, and Spencer was more concerned about Derek, David, and Jennifer than himself. The killer was more likely to continue to kill those who fit his profile instead of straying away. Of course, Spencer had also thought the killer would keep with a schedule, and hadn't expected any warning. It seemed the killer had wanted to exceed their expectations. 

Poison was a silent killer, something someone didn't see coming. You go to take a sip of your bottled water, you don't expect to collapse moments later dead on the grass. It was something shocking, something sudden. The fact they'd been giving a warning...he wasn't quite sure what it meant. If it was a warning of their pending deaths, or if it was a warning to stay away. It wasn't like they'd exactly been kind enough to leave a little note to float around in the glass. 

Spencer sighed, the one good thing about being able to dodge Liam, was that he could help Mason with the gardening again. The man had seemed shocked on Monday when Spencer had approached him during free-time, and offered him a hesitant smile. Mason had immediately accepted Spencer's helping hand, and they worked in comfortable silence, like always. It filled Spencer with a different kind of joy, one that he hadn't been used to experiencing. It was a comfort in the work, a comfort in the silence, a comfort in the fact that with gardening, he actually felt as though he were able to save, or create, something. 

"Spencer!" He froze in shock when he heard his name called through the halls. The taste of frosting was still on his lips, there had been cupcakes delivered to him midway through class. He had to admit, they were quite delicious. "Wait up!" 

Spencer hesitantly turned around, he of course had instantly recognized Ella's voice. The girl hurtled down the hall towards him, and he momentarily felt dread, as though something horrible had happened. 

By the time Ella reached him, she was nearing out of breath, and Spencer wondered if he should have at least attempted to meet her halfway. "Hey," she breathed out, and put her hands on her knees. She then straightened, and smiled at him. "Are you not coming to study with us?" 

Spencer faltered, he hadn't a good excuse in the world for why he couldn't. "I...um...I'm helping in the gardens," he explained. It was a poor explanation, and Ella's eyes reflected her confusion, but it was the best he could do. 

"Oh," she said, still taken aback. "Why?"

"I...um...made a promise?" 

"Oh," she replied again, she then frowned slightly. "We miss you there, you know. Or, at least I do. My biology grade was probably really about to pick up. You know? I, um, I started to understand it better. I mean, we have to do dissection again soon, and I don't see how anything can help that, but like, you know?" 

Spencer looked at her with pity, it had made him feel good to help Ella with her biology notes. "Can't Owen help you out with them while I'm not there?" 

She smiled. "Owen is amazing, and all that. But he's...he hates biology," she said the latter part in a whisper, as though it were a huge secret. "Anyway, I mean, I'm not asking you to come back just to fix my notes...I just...were they mean?" She asked the last part suddenly. 

Spencer took a moment to process what she'd just said. "Um, what? No. No one was mean. It's honestly just gardening." 

"Oh. I see. I don't like gardening very much. Although, I hear it is therapeutic," Ella mused. 

"It can be! There's such a thing as a therapeutic garden, they can be found in a variety of settings; such as hospitals, skilled nursing homes, assisted living residences, continuing care retirement communities, out-patient cancer centers, hospice residences, and all types of places," he explained. Ella nodded her head and offered him a strained smile as he went on, it was a kind effort on her part, really. 

"Owen's Mom gardens," she told Spencer. "But she doesn't like me very much." 

"I'm sorry to hear that," Spencer said honestly. 

"It's alright, because Owen loves me, and that's all that matters." Ella sighed dreamily, and Spencer couldn't help but smile at her. "Did something happen at homecoming?" Ella suddenly asked him, and the smile vanished from Spencer's face. "You and your friend ran out of the room pretty fast." 

"You saw that?" Spencer asked her in surprise. "I didn't even see you there!"

"Nobody sees me," Ella replied. "But I'm always there." 

"Did you see anyone else there, before we left?" Spencer inquired. 

"It was a crowded room, Spencer," Ella responded. "Everyone was everywhere, no one was one place." She seemed almost nervous, and ran a hand through her hair. 

"Oh," was all Spencer could have thought to say. "Listen, until I can get back to help you study, something that sometimes helps with biology is to try to draw visual notes," Spencer advised her. "Like, to sketch some of them out. Sometimes some people have an easier time remembering a sketch of something than they do remembering just the words." 

"I can't draw," she informed him. "Besides, my notes are always out of order." 

"It can be confusing," Spencer told her sympathetically. Honestly, he'd never had a hard time with biology, but he had one kid at his old school who would nearly burst into tears with every class. "It's all memorization, alright? It's kind of like how you need to memorize math facts, it's just the names are longer." 

"I'm not awful at math," Ella said hopefully. 

"You're not awful at this, either. Not entirely grasping a subject is wholly different than being awful at it. Either way, do you plan on being a biologist?" Spencer inquired.

Ella shook her head. "No." 

"You see? Just worry about doing the best you can to get a passing grade, this isn't your future career, so just do the best you can," Spencer advised her with a kind smile. Ella slowly returned it. 

"You're nice, Spencer," Ella told him, and for some reason the small compliment seemed to lighten Spencer's mood considerably. "Oh! By the way! Happy Birthday!" 

"Thank you! They brought me cupcakes!" Spencer said cheerfully. 

Ella smiled. "They make good cupcakes! I think it's the way they do their frosting." She shrugged. "Anyway, I'll let you get to gardening. I hope it relaxes you." 

"Thank you. Good luck with your notes!" Spencer turned away from her, and went to walk off, but Ella's voice halted him,

"Hey, Spencer?" He turned his head around to look at her. "You said biology is a broad field, right? Maybe I'll find a part of it I like." 

Spencer nodded at her. "I'm sure you will." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Sixteen, huh?" Mason asked him. The air had grown much colder, and Spencer found himself unable to control his shivering. "Good age."

"I can legally get a driver's license," Spencer said. He hadn't seemed particularly excited about the topic. "Of course, I've been able to drive for awhile now." 

"Ah, well, the government just isn't too kind to geniuses on that kind of thing, are they?" Mason inquired with amusement. 

"No exceptions," Spencer replied, he then just wore a mask of indifference. "I suppose it's a good thing that they do that. Safety precautions and all that. Personally I find it rather suffocating." 

"That's probably because you have the mind of a genius, but you're still stuck in high school," Mason suggested. "Everything piled on top just adds to the inconvenience." 

"No kidding," Spencer agreed. "It has all turned so repetitive."

"They do that so children won't forget," Mason said. 

"I have an eidetic memory," Spencer reminded him. 

"Yes, well, you're one of the gifted ones," Mason replied with a wink. "Have pity on the less fortunate." 

"They're not less fortunate," Spencer replied, his tone carried a hint of sadness to it. "They're normal." 

"Define normal," Mason said.

"Conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected," Spencer explained blankly. Mason let out a surprised laugh, and Spencer furrowed a brow at him. 

"I didn't mean for you to take that demand literally," Mason said with amusement. "What I meant was, does normalcy truly exist? I've never actually met a normal person." 

"I don't know if normal exists," Spencer admitted. "But I know weird does, and I'm weird." 

"What's with all the self-deprecation?" Mason inquired. "You're much too young for a midlife crisis." 

"Midlife generally occurs from ages 45 to 55. I'm sixteen. So that's doubtful," Spencer scoffed. He played with the soil, and took a grasp of it in his hand, and slowly released it back into the garden. "I don't know," he admitted. "I just sometimes am more aware than at other times of just how weird I am." 

"The world needs odd people," Mason told him. "They make things interesting." He snorted. "Besides, you're a genius, you could at least try some other words for it." 

Spencer frowned. "What do you mean?" 

"Like instead of weird how about you use the word unique? Individual? One of a kind? Why does the word weird have to be something you use to insult yourself?" Mason inquired. Spencer shrugged and looked back at the soil. "You know, for awhile, I thought I was less than other people, too," Mason said. "But then I realized, I was just as good as anybody else. I knew it, and I decided one day I'd prove it to others, too." 

"Did you?" Spencer inquired. 

Mason laughed. "Myself is all that matters." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had been concerned when Derek hadn't come to get him after his football practice had ended. He'd bid farewell to Mason, and the man had actually given him a birthday hug. Spencer had rushed away from the gardens, and back to his dorm room. He needed a shower, he was covered in soil. 

"Gross," one girl sneered when he walked past her. "Someone needs to spray you down with a hose." 

"I'd prefer a shower, thanks," was his only reply as his pace quickened. A heat rushed to his cheeks as more people turned to stare at his mussed up appearance. It seemed more people were out than usual. He'd felt immense relief when he finally had reached his dorm room, but raised an eyebrow when Derek was there waiting for him with a change of clothes.

"Got these for you," he said, and stuck out the pile to him. "Happy Birthday," he joked.

"Could have at least wrapped it," Spencer replied, and rolled his eyes. His lips quirked upwards. "Want a hug for it?" He joked and stuck out his arms. Derek had apparently already showered, give his appearance.

"Yuck. Get the hell away from me, man, and take a shower," Derek ordered, and pushed Spencer's head as a joke. The younger boy chuckled, and made his way to the showers. 

~.~.~.~.~

A freshly showered Spencer made his way back to his dorm room, and opened the door. He frowned at the fact the lights were all off, and then gasped when they were turned on, and everyone jumped out to scream: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 

"What is this?" He asked in surprise, but felt his lips upturn against his will, and his facial muscles move to form an expression of delight. 

"It's a birthday!" Penelope explained. She rushed forward and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "I can now hug you to my heart's content, my pretty." 

"Ah, screw it," Derek said after Penelope finally released Spencer's small form. "Get your skinny ass over here," he demanded. When Spencer approached him in confusion, he let out a gasp of surprise when Derek pulled him into a hug. "Happy Birthday, kid." 

Spencer let out a yelp of shock when he was pulled away from Derek, and promptly smooched on both cheeks by David. "What are you doing?!" He cried out. 

"Didn't you one time tell me it's safer to kiss than shake hands?" David joked as he pulled away from Spencer. 

"I'll stick with just a nice pat on the shoulder, if you don't mind," Aaron said, and then, true to his word, gave Spencer a firm pat on the shoulder. "Happy Birthday." 

Next was Jennifer, who Spencer had been surprised to see there. She pulled him into a tight hug. "Happy Birthday, Spence." 

Emily also hugged him, and after that, Spencer was finally able to soak up the scene around him. He gasped in surprise, they must have set the whole thing up while he was gardening. The whole room was decorated. There were birthday hats on the dressers, presents around the room, and a Happy Birthday banner strung up on the wall. There were pictures of scientists taped to the walls, and famous authors, little things that Spencer had mentioned that he'd liked, but he hadn't thought anyone actually listened to.

But the thing that surprised him the most? The birthday cake that sat on the bedside table. 

"Where did you get that?!" He asked in surprise.

"I made it!" Penelope revealed cheerfully. "It's chocolate!" 

"How did you make that?" Spencer inquired. 

"Yeah, I wasn't actually vomiting yesterday, I was the assistant baker," Emily revealed to him, she slowly grinned. 

"Yeah, our lovely assistant baker managed to get us all covered in flour," Jennifer explained. Emily flipped her off, and Jennifer laughed. Spencer watched them both in surprise, it seemed as though Emily was slowly warming back up to Jennifer. When Spencer caught her gaze, she winked.

He knew it would still take time for the two of them to get back on friendly terms. When someone you care about hurts you, it's not something you often forget. It lives with you forever, and that person has to do every little thing possible to slowly make up for it. Jennifer hadn't rejoined the group for long, and Spencer knew Emily was wary of her intentions. But for one moment, it seemed Emily was willing to let it slide, and in that moment they cut up the cake. Ate. Spencer opened up gifts, and just near cried at all the thought they had put into them. 

As the daylight steadily faded, and dinner was served to them on full stomachs, it had occurred to Spencer how his Father hadn't called. It stung, it hurt more than he thought it would have. But as the group surrounded him, joked around, loudly, horrifically, and humiliatingly sung him happy birthday in the middle of dinner, he thought maybe he'd let some things slide, too.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is now time for Halloween day, and frightening things may just be in the works

As days steadily passed, and Emily's own birthday with them, Spencer had found that he was thankful for that good day; because the following weeks that led up to Halloween were particularly tough. He'd attempted on multiple occasions to talk to Aaron about the possibility of rejoining Liam's group, but every time Aaron had shot him down. At one point Spencer had even lost his temper yet again, and felt tears blur his vision when Derek took Aaron's side, thought it was expected, it felt as though the two boys had tag-teamed him. Both were highly against the idea of Spencer going back with Liam's group. They felt as though it was too dangerous. Yet, they hadn't been able to think of much else to do.

Constantly they were watching their backs, and watching everyone around them. No one else had died, or disappeared, but that just seemed to make them grow more fearful. Because they all felt as though one of their own could be next. 

Derek had acted cool and collected about it, he said how they'd work something out, and seemed to be just hyper vigilant. But Spencer knew that it wasn't the truth. Derek had once again been confronted by Aaron when he'd appeared hungover the day of the pumpkin carving. Derek had sworn up and down that he just had a headache, but Aaron said how he could still smell liquor on his breath. Spencer had just looked at him with hurt, and snapped how he couldn't hang out with Liam's friends for the benefit of the group, but Derek could go off alone and get wasted just fine. Derek seemed shocked by his outburst, and Spencer quickly exited the room. 

The pumpkin carving hadn't gone too smoothly, either. Spencer's pumpkin came out looking like a badly cut mess, despite all the practice he'd put into it. But considering the fact that the other students hadn't seemed to do much better, he hadn't worried about it too much. Although, Derek had teased him mercilessly about how being a genius obviously didn't give Spencer the ability do everything, after all. Spencer had assumed that meant they were alright again after the scene that morning, but he wasn't even quite sure about the fact that he wanted them to be. He was frustrated, and he kept seeing Ella stare at him. She was acting odd, and he felt as though he was betraying her by not helping her out with her notes. He felt like he'd turned his back on her. 

In the weeks that passed, there was another football game, since the team found a replacement player. They'd lost pitifully, and Derek was angered by it. But, no one died, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The whole time the group kept an eye on everything and everyone, mostly on Liam, who sat next to Scarlett and held her hand. He looked ridiculously bored and constantly glared at the watch that he wore on his wrist. 

There was also a soccer game coming up, for both genders, which David and Jennifer were both excited and terrified about. Excited at the prospect of a victory, petrified at the prospect of disaster. 

But Halloween day? That was Spencer's favorite day of the year. He'd awoken the morning of with high hopes of, just perhaps, having a good day. It's not like he'd ever gone trick or treating, or done too much for it, but he always did enough, and it always made him happy. He and Penelope had seemed to share an affection for it, and they'd gone out the weekend prior for costumes. The school allowed them to wear costumes for just that one day, but there were no masks or face paint allowed, and Penelope said that usually a lot of the kids didn't dress up, so they'd stand out.

"Masks are my favorite part," Spencer complained when they'd shopped together. He had a Frankenstein's monster mask in his hand, and looked at it sadly. 

"Masks are so totally not allowed. I mean, if they can't see your face how are they supposed to know how to judge you?" Penelope said sarcastically. They had spent the rest of the time chasing one another around in the monster masks. They both bought one, anyway, just for fun. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Okay, seriously. Spock. You're dressed as Spock," Derek said, and looked like he was just about done with Spencer once he'd finished his costume in the morning. Penelope had taught him a trick on how to cover some of his own eyebrows so that he could draw on fake ones. "You're wearing makeup." 

"Just a little bit," Spencer replied. He looked Derek up and down in distaste. "You're not dressing up?" 

Derek snorted. "I don't dress up, kid. I don't like Halloween." 

Spencer had given him a look of absolute horror, and Derek raised his eyebrows in response to it. Derek then pressed his lips together hard, and Spencer knew it was so he didn't bust out laughing at how comical the mini-Spock glare must have been. "How could you possibly not like Halloween?" 

"I don't like people running around in disguises," Derek replied. 

"But that's the best part about Halloween! You can be anyone you want to be!" Spencer told him cheerfully.

"I'm pretty good just being me," Derek responded. He then gave Spencer another once over, and chuckled. Spencer frowned, he thought he made a pretty decent Spock. "Okay, do the hand sign." 

Spencer grinned and he quickly threw his hand up to obey. Derek snorted out his laughter and pushed himself off his bed. "Come on, let's go to breakfast. Can't wait to see what Penelope pulled out this year." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Penelope squealed in delight when she saw Spencer walk into the dining hall. A couple of the tables snickered at him, but he did his best to ignore them. It wasn't like it was a crime to have fun. Aaron also hadn't dressed up, and Spencer had proceeded to inform him of his lameness, to which Aaron seemed indifferent to. 

Spencer grinned back at Penelope. She was dressed as a fairy. "What happened to the wings?" He asked her as he sat down at the table. She rolled her eyes. 

"Strauss caught me and made me take them off. Said it could disturb traffic in the hallway," she replied in annoyance. She then let out an over dramatic sigh of dismay, and rest the back of her hand to her forehead. "I am a fairy without her wings." 

She really had gone all out. She had body glitter all over her, fairy makeup that she must have woken up especially early that morning to complete, pink hair extension clips to give it a more colorful appearance, as thought it needed it, her hair was all done up, and the outfit was completed with high heels. She'd been excited when she saw the costume in the store and deemed it "gorgeous". 

"See, Penelope? Aren't you glad Spencer came here this year? Now you finally have someone that can dress up with you," David said. 

"Untrue," Emily stated. "I am a homicidal maniac, they look just like everyone else." 

"Okay, Wednesday Addams," Derek replied. 

"Oh my gosh!" Penelope clapped her hands together, her eyes lit up and she'd looked at Emily as though it were Christmas. "You should let me braid your hair!" 

"Woah! Woah!" Emily glared at Derek, who triumphantly scooped his eggs into his mouth. "I was just kidding." 

"You have a black dress! We could put a shirt on underneath it and pop the collar!" Penelope went on with excitement. Jennifer sat down beside her and smiled as she overheard the conversation. She was dressed in her soccer uniform.

"Okay, now, you see, that's just sad," Derek said as he gestured at her. "If you're going to dress up at least put some effort into it. Spencer is even wearing makeup."

"I covered my eyebrows!" Spencer argued. 

"I think he looks great!" Penelope said. "Besides, back to Emily, just let me dress you up! It can be an early birthday present!" 

"Early birthday-your birthday isn't until July!" Emily cried out in exasperation. The whole table snickered.

"That is why the key word was 'early', m'dear." Penelope replied. 

"You know, babygirl, and early gift to me would be seeing you out of that costume," Derek said and licked his lips.

Penelope held her wand up from where it rest beside her breakfast plate and pointed at him. "You best be careful not to objectify me, Derek Morgan, or I might just have to put a spell on you."

"Oh, babygirl." Derek whistled lowly. "I think I'm already under your spell." 

"If this group got anymore ridiculous we'd need our own reality show," David said dryly as he sliced into his yolk with his knife. "Huh," he said. "It's actually too cooked this time." 

"I'll trade you," Jennifer offered as she looked down at her own running egg in dismay. 

"This is ridiculous," Emily announced, and the whole group looked at her in confusion. She leaned in, and lowered her voice considerably. "We need to start talking about what's happening. It's been weeks."

"Yes," Penelope agreed. "Weeks and no one has died...maybe it's over." 

"Come on," Emily said in disbelief, her eyes scanned the table for backup, and they eventually found Spencer's. "We have to do something." 

"You guys have to let me back into Liam's group," Spencer pleaded. Aaron and Derek groaned and both shook their heads. "Please! It's our only option." 

Emily paused, mouth set in a straight line, but when she opened her mouth to speak, Spencer wasn't prepared for what came out, "I agree with Spencer." 

"What?!" Derek cried out in shock. Some people turned to stare at him, and he quickly hushed his voice. "Are you insane?!" 

"It's a dangerous play, but it's our only play," Emily reasoned with him, at Derek and Aaron's angry stare, she continued, "We can't just sit back and do nothing. This isn't safe. We're all in danger." 

"So we send Spencer to be in worse danger?" Derek asked. "That's cruel." 

"He's been here almost two months and he's shown more bravery than any of us," Emily hissed back at him, and Spencer watched her in stunned silence. "If anyone is capable of pulling this off, it's him." 

"We can't talk about this right now," Aaron said, his eyes darted around the dining hall. "It's not safe."

"You can't keep saying that every time you don't like where the conversation is going," Spencer said to him, his tone soft but his eyes bold. 

"We'll talk later tonight in our room, okay? It's safer there." 

"Then why haven't we talked there the past few weeks?" Emily asked, her eyes pierced right into Aaron's own, demanding, not ready to waver. 

"Do you guys think I'm just going about this easily?" Aaron snapped at her. "I've never been hunted by a killer before, alright? I'm not exactly an expert in this field." 

"That's understandable," Emily replied to him, the rest of the table seemed to just be anxiously watching the exchange. "But no one ever deemed you the leader, except yourself. I'm fine running this like a democracy. We just need to do something. We need a plan, or we're all going to die." 

"None of us are going to die," Aaron said. 

"Can you promise me that?" Emily inquired.

Aaron stared into her eyes for a long time, his own reflected indescribable emotions, they flashed there and past so fast you could hardly catch them. He then seemed to deflate. "No. But I want to." 

"Oh sweetie," Penelope said softly, and reached her hands across the table to take Aaron's into her own. Aaron looked at her in mild surprise, but she just held on tighter. "No one expects you to make all the right decisions. We're kids. We're not-." She stopped as her voice got choked up. "We're not prepared for this." 

"I mean, school systems are screwed up," David begun. "We're all hyper-aware of that. But, them being so screwed up that you actually are fearing for your life is...just..." He shrugged. 

"Scary," Jennifer completed. "Let's just face it, this is scary." 

"It's definitely not a time we should be sneaking away alone at," Aaron said, and a sharp look was cast in Derek's direction, who rolled his eyes and ignored him. 

"Why can't we just be normal kids?" Penelope asked with woe. "You know? Kids who right now are...like...making mistakes, doing bad things, getting arrested, now that's the life I want!" 

Spencer raised his drawn on eyebrows at her, he was sure it made him look increasingly comical. "I just want to read a book." 

"You see?" Penelope inclined her head towards Spencer, her hands still preoccupied with holding Aaron's, apparently not willing to let him go. "Now that's safe. Minus the papercuts." 

"I hate papercuts," Spencer mused out loud and looked down at his fingers, as though ones from the past would show up again. "They always seem to hurt worse than regular cuts." 

"Nothing Spock can't handle," Emily joked, and Spencer smiled back at her. 

"Come on, everyone." Jennifer held up her hand in the Vulcan salute. 

"Live long and prosper," Penelope said as she released Aaron's palms and held her own hand up in the salute. The whole table rolled their eyes and reluctantly followed her and Jennifer's lead.

"You know, this sign was based off of-."

"Just enjoy the moment, Spencer."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Nice costume," Jason Gideon said to him in amusement after class. He himself wasn't dressed up, unlike some of the other teachers. Spencer had been the only person in his class to dress up, though he had seen a rather miserable looking Emily walk through the halls in a black dress, popped out collar, and in braids. He'd tried to resist laughing as she glared at him.

"Thanks!" Spencer told him cheerfully, unable to tell if Jason was just merely humoring him or not. "I got it with Penelope." 

"She's quite the colorful one," Jason said with amusement, glasses rest on the tip of his nose. "Brightens up a room."

"Better than a lamp," Spencer agreed. He looked around the room, and saw all the other kids had left. He bit his lip and slowly approached Jason's desk. "Hey, Mr. Gideon?" He inquired softly. 

"Mhm?" Jason hummed, he was looking over a paper, not even directly at Spencer. 

"What made you decide to be a teacher?" Spencer inquired. He was surprised when Jason's head automatically shot up, and he looked at the boy questioningly. 

"Why do you ask?" He asked. His voice almost sounded a bit defensive, and Spencer frowned in confusion. 

"I just...when I came here I realized I had no clue what I wanted to be when I got older," Spencer explained awkwardly, he wrung his hands together and tapped his foot, avoided any eye contact. "I'm graduating this year." 

"Huge accomplishment," Jason congratulated softly. "My recommendation, Spencer, would be to take the future in stride." 

Spencer considered that, and nodded his head, it made sense. "But what made you decide to be a teacher?" 

Jason looked at him with a mix of consideration, and quite possibly even some frustration. Hesitation was another thing detectible in his form. "I had a job quite different than this a while back...but I felt as though I had almost an...obligation to teach, so this is what I went with," Jason explained, large chunks of his story left out. Spencer had to wonder if this was one of those questions that Jason refused to answer in class in favor of letting the student work it out themself. But to figure out a textbook question was one thing, to figure out Jason Gideon's life story was highly improbable. 

Jason's eyes bore into Spencer's own, in a way that made him squirm with discomfort. "Have you considered a form of science?" Jason inquired. "You seem like the type that could make an incredible discovery." 

Spencer's lips quirked upwards at the compliment. "I don't know if making great discoveries is truly my passion," he explained. At the look of confusion on Jason's face, he went on to explain, "I mean, I used to have a passion...a desire to cure certain ailments." He shuffled where he stood, he felt Jason's gaze on him. But if the man didn't find it necessary to give Spencer his story, why should Spencer give him his? "But as far as "incredible discoveries" go, I'd like more of an explanation on what you mean." 

"Pardon?" Jason asked. 

"Have you noticed that one timeless precautionary tale has always been to never dig too deep where it's not needed?" Spencer inquired. At the blank expression on Jason's face, he continued, "I mean, in current literature and in classic literature alike there are so many tales warning you to stay away from stones that do not, should not, be turned. So as far as an incredible discovery goes, as in a cure for something, I would love to. But as far as digging too deep where it is not needed, I should scarce to do so." 

Jason smiled at him, almost indulgently. "You know there is such a thing as reading too much." 

Spencer scoffed. "Nonsense." He grinned. "If my Mom ever heard you say that she'd whack you over the head with one of those dry-erasers." 

Jason grinned slightly. He then eyed Spencer in consideration. Something about Jason's very being was intimidating. It wasn't his appearance, nor his attitude, but something he brought along with him. He supposed that was why the other students didn't seem to like him very much. But Spencer enjoyed him, he fascinated him. 

"You have plenty of time to decide who you want to be, Spencer," Jason explained to him calmly. "As I said, take the future in stride. Once you're in college, there will be very little to slow you down. The whole world will open up to you, and it's in your hands to decide what you want to do with that power."

"I skipped two grades," Spencer replied with self-deprecation. "That shows intelligence, not genius."

"You and I both know you could have a PhD right now if there was nothing holding you down," Jason replied. "Whatever college you go to, you're going to take it by storm. Once you really get out of here, and get into the world, noone and nothing will be able to hold you back from what you want to do." Jason eyed him. "Except your own doubts." 

"My own doubts?" 

"You're confident in your intelligence, but you're not confident in yourself. There's a difference," Jason explained. 

"I am confident in myself," Spencer argued. 

"Self-deprecation weighs on your shoulders like a brick," Jason said. "You're ready to prove yourself, but deep down you're fearful if you can." 

Spencer set his jaw, though in the back of his mind he knew how amusing an annoyed Spock must have looked to Jason. "I can do whatever I set my mind to."

"Then why worry about the future?" Jason inquired. 

"Because I can't worry about the past," Spencer shot back. Jason leaned back in his chair, contemplative. 

"By the looks of you, it looks as though the present is what concerns you more," Jason pointed out.

"By the looks of-I'm dressed as Spock!" Spencer cried out. He gestured down to his costume, and looked at Jason in bewilderment. 

Jason snickered slightly, and shook his head. He pulled his glasses from his nose and stared at Spencer in amusement. "Some questions need to answer themselves, Spencer," he told him. "The future is going to have to unfold. Worry about the present." 

Spencer just nodded, and gave a thin-lipped smile as he turned to leave the room. But Jason's voice halted him, 

"Spencer, be careful." 

Spencer turned to him confusion. "Huh?" He asked, alarmed. 

"You're about to trip over a pencil." Jason pointed to the ground, and Spencer looked down in even more confusion.

He lifted the pencil, and set it off onto the side. But he couldn't help but feel that it wasn't what Jason had meant.

~.~.~.~.~.

Mason got a good chuckle out of Spencer's appearance when he set eyes on him. He threw his head back and a loud laugh emitted from his lips. "Please tell me you have no intention of gardening in that."

"Afraid not," Spencer admitted, but a smile had formed on his own lips. He felt a little off, with the combination of his conversation with Jason Gideon and what had happened in the hall after chemistry. He'd run into Ella, literally. The girl walked right into him, fell over onto the ground, and then had run off before Spencer could even apologize. He hadn't the slightest clue what was wrong with her. She'd been acting off for awhile, and he'd almost begun to assume she had felt either angry or betrayed by his absence from the group. "But I thought you'd get a kick out of it." 

"You look great!" Mason laughed, and looked Spencer up and down once more. "You make one hell of a Spock." 

"Thanks!" Spencer beamed. "Penelope gave me some tips on how to put it together.Mainly just the eyebrows. I'm no stranger to elf ears." 

"You make a fitting Spock," Mason said. "You weren't kidding about your affection for Halloween." 

"I love it!" Spencer said happily. He walked closer to Mason, careful not to get his pants dirty. School clothes he'd ruin without concern. But a Halloween costume? That was a different story. They had to be treated with love and respect. 

"Is this your first one away from home?" Mason inquired. Spencer's whole being seemed to droop, and he nodded sadly. "Are you having a hard time?" 

"I don't know. I guess I'm just trying not to think about it," Spencer replied softly. "I never had a usual Halloween, anyway. I just kind of...like the day for what it is. But it is weird not to be at home." 

"Doesn't help that this school provides children with one of the lamest Halloween days on this planet," Mason pointed out, and gestured to the complete lack of decor. "They're taking some kids to a haunted house tomorrow." 

Spencer frowned. "Why not tonight?" 

"Because today is still a school day, and they apparently still want kids to have their minds on school? No clue. But they are showing Creature of the Black Lagoon in the TV room," Mason informed him. "A lot of the kids wanted Saw, but they felt it'd be too scary for the young ones, and they didn't want the trouble of having to ask for parent's permission."

"Ah," Spencer replied. "I've actually never seen that movie." 

"Blood, guts, death." Mason shrugged. "All much too messy for my tastes." 

"At least if something is messy there's no way that someone could say it never happened," Spencer mused aloud, and earned himself Mason's attention. The older man raised a brow. 

"Has the plot thickened?" 

"Fearsomely so, I'm afraid." Spencer sighed, and looked around the grounds. "Doesn't help that people think I'm as helpless."

Mason chuckled, his chest rumbling, he took a chug of water before he replied, "People fear for you. Treasure it. That means they care." 

"No. It means they don't trust me," Spencer argued. 

"You know? Sometimes I forget you're so young," Mason informed him. At Spencer's confusion, he explained, "You're such a smart young boy, but you're still a boy. It's like when a parent tries to shield their child from danger. It's not a lack of trust of them, it's a lack of trust of other people." 

"But they don't trust that their child can handle themselves," Spencer fired back, his demeanor slightly petulant. He looked highly amusing. Dressed in a Spock costume, arms crossed over his chest, foot tapping impatiently, drawn on eyebrows knit together. It was a sight to see. 

"Because they're children," Mason said. "You're a genius, but you're sixteen years old." 

"I have the mind of a man-."

"But do you have the maturity of one?" Mason inquired. Spencer looked away from him. "Don't confuse care with distrust, it's a fatal error. You have to learn to see through things for what they are."

"I'm very confused," Spencer admitted. "Just today I was informed by a man that I was smarter than what I gave myself credit for, and now I'm being informed that I'm less than what I do give myself credit for." 

Mason looked at Spencer, he seemed to have grown slightly frustrated. "I never knocked your intelligence, I simply said that intelligence and maturity are two very different things." 

"So I'm immature?" 

"Right now." If it hadn't been said with a smile, Spencer would have probably grown much more angry at Mason. But the man just grinned at him, his former frustration no longer seemed evident on his features. His good nature back in place. Spencer felt rather foolish for even starting to argue with him.

"Right now I'm frustrated," Spencer informed Mason, his former attitude had vanished. "I know I don't seem like the most...capable," he chose the word wisely. "But I can do whatever needs to be done." 

"You're determined," Mason inquired, but it almost seemed more like a fact than a question. 

"There are certain things you don't poke at, and other things which you need to. I'm insecure about a lot of things, but there are other things I'm certain of." 

After a while of silence, Mason just seemed to continue his gardening. Spencer watched him, and ached to help. Part of him even considered temporarily ruining his costume to do so. He deeply hoped he hadn't somehow angered the other man in front of him. 

"Have you ever grown food?" Spencer asked timidly. Usually his silence with Mason was comfortable, but he'd felt as though a weight had been placed on his shoulder at that moment. 

"Rarely," Mason replied, his voice hadn't held anger. "I grew tomatoes one year, but Strauss informed me my responsibility was to keep the grounds looking nice, not to grow her food." 

"Did you know there are at least 10,000 varieties of tomatoes?" Spencer inquired. Mason finally gifted him back his attention. "Also the Ponderosa ones can weigh over three pounds." 

Mason smirked. "Can they now?" 

"Indeed! Not to mention the fact that they're the world's most popular fruit! More than 60 million tons are produced every year. 16 million tons more than the runner up, the banana," he quoted to him proudly. 

"Shall I even ask what intrigued you to look up facts on tomatoes?" Mason asked. 

"An extreme thirst for knowledge?" Spencer offered. 

Mason chuckled. "How many wells will you drink dry before you've had your fill?" He inquired. 

"It seems a shame to be able to read so fast, and remember so much, yet not put it to use," Spencer responded with a shrug. 

"Perhaps you should share some knowledge with your friends," Mason suggested. Upon receiving a confused look from Spencer, Mason grinned and shook his head. "Wandering out alone in the conditions we're in is quite the risky maneuver."

Spencer's mouth popped open, and his cheeks heated up slightly in sympathy for Derek, who he believed to be who Mason was referring to. "Derek just likes his alone time." 

"I wasn't just referring to him, although, he should watch himself. If you can't walk in a straight line you can hardly fight," Mason informed him. "I was also referring to your other dark haired friend. One who just snuck out to go take a smoke alone." Spencer's eyes widened as he looked all around them, how had he missed Emily? "Like I said, I see a lot. She's over there." Mason pointed towards the woods. "Hidden behind a tree." 

"Thanks, Mason," Spencer said, still slightly embarrassed. But before he brushed past the man, he took a good look at him. "Aristotle wrote, "The excellent person is related to his friend in the same way as he is related to himself, since, a friend is another self; and therefore, just as his own being is choiceworthy for him, the friend's being is choiceworthy for him in the same or a similar way." Did you know that?" 

Mason frowned. "Feel as though I've heard the quote before. What are you trying to say?"

"That we're friends," Spencer told him. Before Mason could respond, Spencer darted off towards the direction he'd said Emily was in. To leave the groundskeeper with his plants. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"What was he going to do?" Emily asked after Spencer had confronted her. "Throw poison on my cigarette?" 

"We worked out a buddy system," Spencer reminded her in frustration. He glared at the cigarette as though it were his true enemy.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Emily inquired. 

"Right now?" Spencer asked. Emily rolled her eyes. 

"I told Penelope where I'd be. Look." Emily stuck her hand out from behind the tree and did a weird wave. Spencer looked as a brightly colored glittery hand waved in a similar motion from the school yard. "She hates the smoke." 

"...Oh," Spencer said sheepishly. "Sorry." 

"Apology gracefully accepted," Emily said as she huffed out a cloud of smoke. Spencer resisted the urge to plug his nose in disgust. She actually laughed out the last little bits of it. "You really hate smoking, don't you?" 

Images of his Mother once again bombarded his mind, and he bit his lip tightly. "Yes," he informed her. "Yes, I do." 

"Yeah, well, at least it will keep you from doing them, these things are terrible for you," she said it with a hint of amusement, and a slight smile formed on her face. But it morphed when she saw the lack of amusement on Spencer's own. His eyes were slightly glazed over, as though he were in another world. 

"Hey," she said softly, and Spencer shook out of his stupor to give her attention. "Cheer up, it's Halloween. Are you really going to let Halloween pass without giving me a list of obscure facts about it?" Spencer was able to tell the hesitation in the latter sentence, and had to fight back a grin at the fact that Emily was willing to subject herself to a tirade just to cheer him up. 

"You don't really want to hear it, do you?" Spencer asked, he leaned up against another smaller tree. Bright colored leaves crushed under his shoes. 

"No, but it'd make you happy," Emily said. "Believe it or not, I know my fair share of Halloween trivia." 

Spencer perked up at that. "You do?" He inquired. 

"Of course I do," Emily scoffed. She huffed out another puff of smoke, Spencer waved the air around him. "Second-hand smoke is dangerous."

"So is first-hand," he replied. 

"Yeah," she agreed, but then grinned. "But it pisses my Mom off." 

"If you're always here, how does she even know you're smoking?" Spencer inquired. 

"I make sure whenever she decides to bless me with a phone call to tell her I need to go take a smoke," Emily explained, smug smile on her face. She batted the braids out of her face with her free hand, and looked at them with disgust. Spencer had felt his lips quirk upwards, it was funny to see Wednesday Addams smoking a cigarette. "Also, whenever I see her I smell of smoke." She looked at him inquiry. "You never tried to act out against your Father?" Her eyes reflected her hesitation in asking the question, obviously the topic of his parents was a sore one, and one commonly avoided.

Spencer snorted, the very thought of acting out against his Mother was absurd..but the things he did to act out against his Father were unorthodox. He hesitated before he revealed it to Emily, "My studying and memorization of statistics is my way of acting out against my Dad." 

Emily looked at him, bewildered. "So, being a good kid is pissing your Father off?" She blew out a puff of smoke. "Now, that's no fun." 

"It's not being a good kid as much as it's not being his idea of a good kid," Spencer explained sadly. "He wants me to be...normal." 

"Screw normal," Emily declared. Spencer looked at her in surprise, he'd never exactly heard that reaction to it before. "You're fine just the way you are. Any Father who doesn't want a kid like you is an idiot; pardon my french." 

Spencer frowned. "You didn't speak in french." 

"It's a...nevermind." Emily grinned and shook her head. "You're a good kid. Stay away from shit like this and you'll be even better," she told him kindly. "You've got to go through life and do things your way, if your Father can't accept that, then that's his loss." 

"Does your Mother not accept you?" Spencer asked quietly, and looked up at Emily through his lashes. A cold breeze blew right at them, and the branches on the trees made a crackling noise, and more leaves fluttered down to join the two friends. Spencer eyed Penelope, who wrapped her arms around her shivering form. 

Emily shrugged, but her face gave away that she wasn't totally indifferent. "I'm her daughter," she said. "She's supposed to love me, not accept me." 

"I always thought that love and acceptance went hand in hand," Spencer replied softly. 

"Yeah, in a fairytale land," Emily responded, her voice carried a note of sadness. She then glanced down to her cigarette and laughed. "Guess I don't make it easy, though, do I?"

"Smoking doesn't make you a bad daughter," Spencer scoffed. "My..." He froze, contemplated his next words. "My Mom smokes," he finally got out. "It didn't make her a bad Mother." 

Emily stayed silent for awhile, she just took long drags of her cigarette and eyed Penelope every once and awhile. Finally, she spoke again, "You know, Spencer, everyone is pretty private about their personal lives."

Spencer gave a stiff smile. "So I've noticed."

"But, that doesn't mean that they can't keep a secret," she continued. "You can tell any of us anything, and we wouldn't betray you for anything in the world. I know Liam and his friends turn their noses down on us, but we're not like that." 

"I know you're not," Spencer assured her. He kicked at the leaves, listened to the crunch as it hit his ears, and squirmed in discomfort at the itchiness underneath his elf ear. "Hey, Emily, thanks for earlier. You know...at breakfast." He looked up at her. "Thanks for having faith in me." 

"Hey, we all need a little faith sometimes." She winked at him. "Besides, I honestly still kind of want to do the room stalking thing," she admitted. At Spencer's look of surprise, she continued, "I mean, it's stupid! But, it was the best plan we had. At least it's a plan. We have nothing right now. We're running around in circles." 

"We're actually technically not going in circles. We're not going anywhere," Spencer corrected.

"Even worse," Emily responded. 

"Hey, Emily, you're honest, right?" Spencer asked. 

"Brutally," Emily replied, she smiled at him. 

"Do you find me immature?" Spencer inquired, head cocked to one side, he looked like a curious dog who just had their master exit with the food. 

Emily laughed so hard that she started to choke on her smoke. "You?!" She continued to laugh, and Spencer stared at her in confusion. "Spencer, we hang out with two guys who talk about how many girls they've collectively had sex with, and refer to them as 'chicks'. One whom wants to screw Strauss. Then, we've got a girl who thinks she's a princess, ninja, fairy, queen, whatever." Emily gave him a look. "Trust me, you're mature for your age." 

Spencer sighed. "I've been getting such mixed signals today," he admitted. "This is all much too confusing for Halloween."

"Well, things tend to get weird on Halloween, also known as All Hallow's Eve, or All Saints' Eve. A yearly celebration observed in a number of countries. October 31st, the eve of Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day," Emily replied, a smug grin on her face that grew when Spencer whipped his head up to look at her in shock. "Oh yeah...I know things." 

"You know something, Emily?" Spencer asked. "I'm liking you more and more every day." 

"Yeah, I have a tendency to grow on people. It's both a blessing and a curse, really," Emily replied lightly. 

"I usually have a tendency to either ignite rage, bullying, annoyance, or other unpleasant side effects. Oddly enough, it hasn't seemed to work here," Spencer replied musingly. He reached a hand up to attempt to itch at his ear without removing his fake one. He must have been having a reaction to the spirit gum, it felt as though he were to break out in hives at any moment. Just uncomfortable prickles all around. 

"You're hanging out with us, now," Emily responded. "Most importantly, me." 

"You?" Spencer inquired.

"Please. People should know to mess with Derek before they take a chance with me," Emily replied with bravado, but her demeanor was much too light to take it seriously. 

"You know what? I actually can see that," Spencer replied. A small smirk made its way to his face. "Everyone knows what happens when you get Wednesday Addams mad." 

"Watch it," Emily warned him, cigarette pointed at him like a threat, smoke emit from it and covered her face like a movie effect. "Or you'll become my headless doll."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

After they had all gathered in their dorm room, Aaron slowly shut the door tight, the audible click echoed through the then silent room. Spencer, Emily, and Penelope were all still in costume; Emily begrudgingly. Jennifer had changed out of her soccer uniform after practice, and just sat in her regular uniform, and looked at Aaron apprehensively. 

Aaron walked over to his own bed, and sat with his head in his hands. It was then Spencer noticed that his hands even shook slightly, and he felt a pang of guilt in his heart. They really weren't equipped for this sort of thing, and despite Aaron's calm, tough, and level-headed persona, underneath it all he was still just a seventeen year old kid who hadn't a clue what to do in the situation they were in. No wonder he'd been putting the talk off, he was as terrified as the rest of them. 

"I stand by what I said earlier," Emily spoke first, and bravely. She eyed Spencer, who nodded his approval of the path she had chosen to take. "We need a plan, and Spencer is our best bet." 

"It still feels risky talking about this in here," Aaron said warily, a look cast to the door.

"Ah, yes," David drawled. "I'm sure the killer is outside the door right now with a glass pressed against it."

"Emily is dressed as Wednesday Addams," Derek snorted. "Anything is possible." Emily reacted to his comment by flipping him off, and Jennifer laughed from her position on the floor in front of Derek's bed, where Emily, Penelope, and Derek were all squished on. 

"We don't have many other options," Jennifer told them gravely, her former smile wiped off her face. "It's not like the school has a secret hideout." 

Derek stiffened again, and Spencer eyed him from his position on his own bed. Derek turned his head away from him, unable to look at the younger boy. 

"Look," Emily begun again. "We have no plan. Our lives are at risk, and the most we've done is throw birthday parties." At the look of hurt on Penelope's face, she clarified, "They were great birthday parties, but they aren't productive in catching a killer."

"Jesus, Emily, you smell like smoke." David wrinkled his nose, he was seated in front of Spencer's bed. He had made a valiant effort to try to sit on the bed, but Spencer had pitched a fit to the point where it just wasn't worth it. "Go take a shower." 

"Go complain to someone who cares," Emily shot back at him. 

"Focus, please," Aaron said. "Emily, you're right, we need to figure something out. But sending one of us right into the grasps of a potential killer-."

"Like we were doing for awhile?" Emily interrupted him. 

"He didn't know we knew," Derek reminded her, gave her a harsh glare. Emily didn't advert her eyes, she stared at him head on. "Now he does." 

"That was a clear threat," Aaron continued. "We send Spencer into this and we have no idea what the outcome will be."

"I think it's more my decision than yours," Spencer reminded him in frustration. He'd almost wished he'd changed out of his clothes so that he could have been taken a bit more seriously. A 16 year old dressed as Spock defending his capabilities wasn't exactly something many would take serious. He blamed the eyebrows. 

"Spence," Jennifer begun slowly. "No one wants you to get hurt." 

"Even if we were to send you back in, what type of plan is that? Have you pal around in public with a killer? If he knows you know you won't be able to be a fly on the wall," Aaron pointed out. Derek nodded his head along with him, obviously not willing to let Spencer go into the fray once more. 

"Sure, he'll be expecting Spencer to be watching him, knows he'll be critical of his every move, but what he doesn't know, is the fact that I'm going to be in his bedroom," Emily stated. It took the room awhile to figure out what she was talking about.

"No," Jennifer was the first to speak up, she shook her head so her blonde locks followed in motion. "That's not a good idea, Emily, come on."

"It's a plan," Emily replied. "I don't see anyone else coming up with one. What are we supposed to do? Try to keep to ourselves? Be careful? Then, you know what? We might not die, but other kids will," Emily stated. The whole room stilled. "I'm not okay with that." 

Aaron cast a look over at Spencer, and opened his mouth to speak, when they heard something on the other side of the door. All their heads shot in the direction. There was no knock, no voice, but an odd thump, and then shuffling. 

Derek, Aaron, and David all stood up at once, Jennifer and Emily quickly followed suit. Spencer and Penelope both stayed still, and looked at one another, eyes wide. 

"I'll open it," Derek said. 

"I should do it," Aaron argued. 

But before Derek could argue, Emily could intervene, or David could say a word, the door was opened by Jennifer. All their heads darted in the direction, and Penelope and Spencer finally shot up off their beds. 

"Oh my god!" Jennifer cried out, hand clasped over her mouth. 

"What is it-oh good God," Emily said with disgust, they were looking down at what rest in the entryway. Spencer pushed past Aaron and Derek to see what was there.

"I should go after him," Derek said.

"Don't," Aaron disagreed. "It's not safe. It's dark out." 

Spencer was frozen with shock as he looked at what was at the entryway of their door. It was a dead rat. That alone was disturbing, shocking, and an obvious message. But it wasn't just the rat that shocked him, it was the fact that there were pills tumbling out of its mouth.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" David asked as he kneeled in front of the rat. 

"Don't touch it!" Emily warned him, and David put both hands in the air to show he had no intention of doing so. 

Spencer knelt beside David, right in front of the rat and gazed at it in horror. His eyes dragged themselves away from the rat, and back to the pills that had tumbled from its lips. He squinted, they couldn't be...he recognized the pills. 

They were the same ones his Mother used to take.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets are forced to be revealed, and the killer might have just revealed who they truly are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize for such a late update! I've been really busy and was incapable of giving this story the attention it deserved. Updates may still be a little erratic, but I'm going to try to get them more frequent! I thank you all for your patience.   
> Warning: Descriptions of animal brutality to a rather graphic extent!

That night things just about spun out of control. Penelope and Jennifer thought they should get Strauss to show her; while David, Derek, Aaron, and Emily all felt it was useless. Strauss would find some way to excuse it. They all had made individual efforts to look calm and together, but everybody's form shook with fear. Penelope stood to the way back.

"A rat," she said in horror. "He killed a rat!" 

Spencer still stared at the pills. He was just about positive they were the same ones his Mother used to take, but it made no sense. Did the killer know that? Was he/she taunting him? How could they possibly know? It wasn't possible for them to know. Even those closest to him and his Mother never knew the medicines she took, no one but himself and her doctor. 

Spencer examined the rat closely. He adjusted his glasses that rest on the bridge of his nose so that they sat better on his face. He then quickly reached for a pencil he saw Derek drop on the floor earlier that very day, and slowly pushed it up against the dead animal. 

"Spencer," Aaron cried out with alarm, his vision had obviously been redirected to Spencer, who ignored him. "What are you doing?"

Spencer pressed the pencil up against the side of the animal, watched the tip sink into the gray fur of the poor rat. He felt his heart clench slightly, he'd actually always liked rats. His Mother hated them, as did his Father. They hated mice, too, they both set up traps in the basement, and Spencer would have to dash around the house ruining them. His Mother felt they carried all types of diseases, and his Father just found them unpleasant. 

He pressed the tip in harder, and turned his hand slightly to turn the poor animal onto its back. More pills spilled out of its mouth, and made a clacking noise on the hardwood floor. Spencer couldn't help but think how much trouble they'd all be in if anyone were to walk up the stairs at that moment; but he knew he couldn't focus too much on that, he had something else to focus on. 

"There's an incision made in the middle of the rat," Spencer observed outloud. The rest of the group seemed to still to listen to his words. "Whoever did this took time, it was planned and done with a steady hand. But the incision." Spencer paused and bit his lip, he adjusted his glasses with his hand that didn't hold the pencil and squinted. "I can't tell what it was made with, it's sewed up. Messy. Whoever sewed it up has no prior experience," Spencer declared. "I would say the incision wasn't made with the proper tools, but I can't be sure." 

"What the hell does all this mean?" Derek asked, voice impatient. 

"It means whoever did this cut the rat open," Spencer explained, voice entwined with disgust. "My guess is removed its internal organs, stuffed it full of pills that you see protruding from the mouth...and cleaned it."

"Cleaned it?" Jennifer asked.

"There's no sign of blood," Spencer explained. "It's like whoever did this cleaned their mess up." 

"Well," Emily said, and slowly leaned down next to Spencer. "That's something." 

"Yeah? What?" David asked. 

"He didn't want the extra mess," Spencer explained. "Or she," he corrected. "It's kind of like poison. No blood, but you still have a body." 

"What about the pills?" Jennifer asked. 

Spencer stiffened up, but no one seemed to notice. His mouth had gone dry, and he felt emotions swirl within his belly to the point where it made him feel physically ill. 

"Like the cup, this is a message," Aaron explained. "This is just a stronger one."

"Do you think the rat was alive when he cut it open?" Penelope asked in tears. Derek spun around and winced, she looked distraught. 

"Doubtful," Spencer replied logically. "The incision would have been a lot less precise." 

"Killing animals is a beginning sign of psychosis," Aaron pointed out.

"Yeah, I think our guy is a little past that point," Derek cut in. "This is an obvious threat." 

"There's something else in its stomach," Spencer exclaimed with surprise. He eyed around the room at the other curious faces that all seemed to lean in. 

"Don't tell me you want to cut it open..." Derek's voice was laced with complete disgust. He eyed the rat and shook his head. 

"I think the word want isn't exactly fitting for the situation at hand," Spencer corrected him, his own features twisted with disgust. 

"This is what boarding school has come to," David announced. "Cutting open dead rats." He gestured to the dead mound of grey hair on the ground and winced. "Could cleaning it be a sign of something like OCD? I got a cousin who has that." 

"I doubt it," Emily answered. "It's clean, and doesn't leave a mess, but nothing is precise enough, like the stitches." 

Spencer nodded. "She's right."

"Okay," David said dryly. "That's great. Fabulous. Now what the hell do we do with the rat?" 

Spencer winced and eyed the fallen furry friend. "Anyone got gloves?" 

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Do we have to do this in here?" Derek asked with disgust. The rat had rest on its back on top of a plastic plate, pills had spilled out all around it. Spencer had taken David's small pocket knife, and held it in his gloved hands as he gently put it at the incision line. 

"Where else would we do it? Outside on the lawn?" Emily asked dryly, she rolled her eyes at Derek in annoyance, and then winced when she saw Spencer press in with the pocket knife.

Penelope gagged and turned away, and Derek ran his hand up and down her back in soothing circles. "This is horrible," Penelope whimpered. 

"It's not much better over here, either," Spencer snapped, his voice wrought with disgust. He carefully cut away each stitch, and nearly gagged himself when the line popped open. Pills were stuffed all inside the poor animal, along with a piece of paper. 

"Well," David breathed, eyebrows raised. "There's something." 

Spencer winced. The whole inside of the rat had been completely cleaned out, like his pumpkin after he had gutted it. The rat outside their door had been nothing more than a hollow shell filled with pills, and a large crumbled piece of paper. He felt bile crawl up his throat, and blinked his eyes rapidly. Inside his emotions swirled and screamed, the fact the pills used to be his Mother's made the entire thing feel more personal. Made it feel like it wasn't just an attack made on all of them, but on Spencer especially. 

He recalled the pills so well. He'd given them to her every day. 

~.~.~.~.~.

"Mom, you forgot to take your pills this morning," young Spencer reminded her. His hair had grown so long and untamed that it hung in his eyes. He had to continuously shake his head so that it didn't obscure his vision too terribly. He held in his hand a tiny plastic cup, and in the other a water bottle. He looked hopefully at his Mother, hoped she wouldn't argue about the incompetence of the medicine she so desperately needed.

His Mother hadn't even looked up. Her hand moved at rapid pace, it flew over the notebook paper, it was as though she were in another world. Spencer gulped down a lump in his throat, he knew the scene in front of him wasn't good.

"Mom..." He attempted again with hope. He jiggled the pill cup a little, so that they bounced in the tiny plastic structure. That had earned him his Mother's bleary attention, but she looked at him with little recognition. She blinked her eyes a few times and squinted at him, her long blonde hair stood with static in all directions. "Your pills?" 

"Oh," she said softly, her voice still filled with confusion. "Oh, yes. Yes, of course." She stuck her hand out, it was dry and cracked. Spencer winced and took hesitant steps forward. "I need to take them before I teach my next class."

Spencer deflated instantly, all the hope that had built up inside of him vanished, and he felt hollow, except for the little pang in his heart. He bit his cracked lip, and made the rest of the stride over to place the pills in his Mother's open palm. "Here," he said softly, eyes on the ground. He then held out the bottle, which his Mother gratefully accepted. 

"So glad I didn't miss this dose," Diana Reid said cheerfully, her hand resumed its rapid motion across the notebook paper as she tossed the bottle to the side. "It wouldn't have been good."

"No, ma'am," Spencer agreed. "It wouldn't have been."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Spence?" Jennifer said his nickname with concern. Spencer hadn't made any move to grab at the paper, and he'd just stared blankly at the spilled pills. His eyes had been glazed, and his jaw had been slightly slacked, as though he were in another world. At the sound of his nickname, he cleared his throat and shook his head.

"Sorry," he apologized, and gave a tiny cough. "Sorry. I was just...thinking. Sorry," he rambled. He ignored the concerned looks his friends shot him, and almost felt guilt about the fact that they truly didn't have a clue about anything that happened in his life. But to be fair, he knew nothing of them, either. It was odd, he hadn't been at boarding school for long, but he felt as though it had been years. When you spend each and every day with the same people, while bodies drop around you, you'll find time seems to stretch. 

"The paper, Spencer," Aaron reminded him gently, voice carried a note of concern with it. His eyes observed the young boy carefully.

Spencer nodded, and whimpered as he stuck his gloved hand into the rat. Those around him made a small noise of disgust, and he knew for a fact that Penelope had her eyes pressed shut. He pulled out the crumpled piece of paper and looked at it in his gloved palm. He felt a sense of dread about opening it. 

When he opened it, he felt as though a chill had gone through the room. He really should have expected the image that was printed on the paper, but he felt his heart rate pick up upon sight of it, anyway. 

A skull with two crossbones.

"Son of a..." David trailed off and wiped his mouth with his hand. "We really should have seen that coming." 

"How did the warnings escalate from a glass with a floating skull to a dead rat filled with pills?" Emily inquired in disgust. 

"Do the pills have any meaning?" Jennifer asked, and Spencer stiffened again. 

"They're probably just whatever he could get his hands on, right?" Derek suggested. 

Spencer felt a swarm of emotions within him. On one hand, if he spoke of his knowledge of the medicine he'd have to explain why on earth he knew about them. But on the other hand, if he didn't speak about it and the pills did have meaning, he could be failing them all. Neither of the possibilities were pleasant, and both made him feel sick to his stomach. He sat there, his hands gloved, holding a piece of paper that was shoved in a dead rat. To say that he hadn't expected boarding school to go that way would have been the understatement of the century.

"What is it, Spencer?" David inquired. The fact it had been David, and not Aaron, who picked up on his discomfort surprised him slightly. With David's humor he sometimes forgot the fact that the boy could be perceptive, and obviously had a keen eye on Spencer; which did the boy no favors. 

"I know the name of them," Spencer admitted softly. The whole room stared at him in confusion, he kept his head down but he could feel the eyes as they burned holes on the back of his neck. He swallowed, desperate to try to nourish his dry throat. "They're anti-psychotics. I can tell what kind from the writing, color, and size of the pills. I've seen them before." 

"Where?" Derek asked. Spencer closed his eyes. "Spencer, answer me, where have you been seeing antipsychotics?" 

"I-I have an eidetic memory," Spencer explained, but the shake in his voice revealed his nerves. "I see and remember everything." 

"Odd thing to see and remember," Derek replied to him. 

"Spencer," Aaron's voice had been stern, and Spencer had closed his eyes tight at the sound of it. "Anything you know that could help-." 

"I don't know anything that could help," Spencer snapped. "If you want to know what they are, I'll be happy to tell Penelope so she can run a scan on her computer to see who is taking them. But I know nothing that'd help otherwise." 

"You wouldn't be so defensive if you didn't know something," Derek stated, arms crossed over his chest. 

"Spence," Jennifer's own voice had been soft, but still firm, and passionate. "You need to tell us what you know. I've lost a friend because of it, and any information-."

"I have no information!" He snapped again. "I have no idea who these belong to, okay? None. I know a lot of things, and I don't see you grilling me on that." 

"Spencer, calm down," Aaron demanded. The rest of the room seemed shock by the anger that had leaked into Spencer's words, not to mention his defensive posture. "If you know something-."

"It's personal, alright? It's personal, and it has nothing to do with any of this. I don't see you guys talking about your life stories any time soon." He'd known as soon as the words left his mouth that they wouldn't be favored by the group. All of them had secrets, and seemed to never talk about their personal lives. It wasn't like they'd known each other forever, but no one said anything at all. It was as though it were an unspoken rule of privacy that no one was allowed to invade. The fact he even scratched the surface of it all showed the depths of his annoyance. 

"My life story isn't shoved in a rat," David replied cooly. 

"Fine, you really want to know?" Spencer put down the piece of paper to rest atop of the rat, with deceiving calm despite the rise in his voice. "I knew someone who used to take them, okay? That's how I knew what they were."

"Who was it?" 

"That doesn't matter!" 

"It could," Aaron reasoned. "If they knew it meant something to you they could target you by shoving them in the rat," Aaron explained. "It could mean you're the next target." 

"Or it could mean they found some pills and shoved them in the rat," Spencer returned. 

"Were they yours?" Derek asked. His voice was calm, arms crossed over his chest, Penelope watched anxiously next to him. The whole room went silent, and Spencer stared at him in horror. 

"No!" He cried out. "I never took them!"

"Then why are you so defensive about them?" Derek asked.

"Why are you so defensive about your personal life?" Spencer shot back at him. He rose up from his kneeled position and turned to fully face them, he kept his gloved hands away from his body, but not outward towards them too much. 

"Spence," Jennifer begun calmly. "We need to know all we can possibly know about this." 

"Fine, you guys really want to know?" He inquired. "Fine. My Mom used to take those exact same pills." He saw the look of shock come over all of their faces. "I would know. I brought them to her every single day since she never remembered. I was the one who gave her the meds, and I was the one who saw to it that she never missed a dose of them. So yeah, I saw them enough to memorize every little detail," he ground out. His eyes were dark, near blinded by frustration. "So congratulations," he said sarcastically. "You now know more about me than I know about any of you." 

Before anyone had the chance to respond, Spencer removed his gloves and threw them down on the plate that the rat still rest on top of. They floated down and landed with abnormal amounts of grace, which hadn't seemed to fit the situation at hand at all. 

"Spence..." Jennifer begun softly, and she stuck her hand out as though to put it gently onto his shoulder. But he pulled away from her instantly, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Spencer-." Derek opened his mouth to say more, but Spencer hadn't wanted to hear a word of it.

"I'm going to go wash my hands," Spencer ground out. "I don't care if I had gloves on, my hands feel gross. Figure out something to do with the rat." 

He turned to exit immediately, but Derek spoke up again,

"You really shouldn't be going into the bathroom alone." 

"What's he going to do? Drown me in the toilets?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had come back that night to the room empty and the rat gone. He knew that the others had all walked back to their own rooms, and that Derek and Aaron were seeing them to it for safety reasons. So Spencer got dressed in his PJs, and crawled into bed. He'd removed the makeup and elf ears in the bathroom.

He felt a moment of embarrassment when he turned on his side away from where the door faced, and curled up slightly. He took his alone time and allowed himself to shiver, and let the waves of terror pass through him. He should have lied, or concealed his emotions better, but the fact was he'd just cut open a dead rat and stuck his hand inside of it, he wasn't feeling very in control. 

He knew he should have been thinking about probabilities, facts about killings in this type of nature, and what the threat could have meant. But the truth was? He couldn't. All he could think of was his Mother. The second his eyes closed, images of his Mother flooded into his brain. He couldn't make them vanish, he couldn't close his heart off from the ache that threatened to overtake it. He heard his breath quiver out, and his bottom lip tremored. He shut his eyes tight, and burrowed further into the blankets when he heard the door open. 

"Spencer," Derek's voice was gentle, and he heard Aaron shut the door carefully from behind him. "We know you're up, man. We need to talk." 

Spencer ignored him, and tried to give the illusion of himself being sound asleep, even though it was a moot point. He couldn't deal with whatever conversation the two boys wanted to have. He wasn't ready for it. Whoever was killing the kids had officially ruined Spencer's favorite holiday, and he was upset and exhausted. He'd just cut open a stitched up dead rat, filled with pills from his past, with a piece of paper shoved in its belly. To say he was disturbed wouldn't be a strong enough word. 

"Spencer," Derek tried again. He sat down slowly on the edge of Spencer's bed, and reached for Spencer's tucked up ankle. "Come on, man. We just want to talk some things over." Not even a tiny movement. "Spencer..."

"Derek," Aaron said softly, and Spencer could imagine the boy giving Derek a grave look and shaking his head in the negative. "Just let it go. He's not up to talking right now."

"But-." Aaron must have cut Derek off with either a glare or another headshake, because Derek backed off. "Fine," Derek agreed. He gave Spencer's ankle one last fleeting pat, and spoke gently, "We'll be right here if you need us, man." The bed let out a loud creak as Derek got off of it, and Spencer heard the lightswitch shut off. "Goodnight, pretty boy," Derek said softly before he finally left Spencer's bedside. 

"Goodnight, Spencer," Aaron said softly, Spencer could tell from how far away his voice was that he had already gotten in bed. "Happy Halloween." 

He tried really hard not to cry.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The next day Spencer hadn't said a word up until breakfast. 

His whole night had been plagued by nightmares. He'd witnessed Kathryne's death over again, but this time when she tumbled to the ground, pills has spilled from her mouth, and he could have sworn he'd heard his Mother crying in the distance. It was one of the single most horrifying experiences of his life, and it wasn't even real. 

When he'd gotten up, Aaron and Derek had both softly greeted him good morning, but Spencer hadn't replied to either of them. He was irrationally angered by the fact that part of his secret had come out. They'd all managed to keep parts of their lives hidden from each other for years, while he becomes exposed after just about two months. 

"Hi, sweetie," Penelope greeted him softly at breakfast. She offered him a tiny smile, and looked at him with hopeful eyes. It couldn't help but slightly melt the ice wall he'd built around his heart that day; because he knew Penelope must have been beyond terrified, yet she still was most worried about his own emotional state. "How'd you sleep?" 

Spencer set down his food on the, blessedly, clean table, and shrugged his shoulders. He still hadn't quite felt like talking, and even if he wanted to he hadn't a clue what to say. 

"I thought some stuff over last night," Aaron announced after a long period of awkward silence and food picking. His voice had been hushed in the announcement, and everyone had leaned in with interest. "Spencer, I think you should resume hanging out with Liam's group, if they should still have you."

Derek looked at Aaron, mouth agape. Spencer instantly perked up, and looked up from his plate to the boy with shock. His mouth had dropped into a surprised 'o' and his eyebrows had raised high up. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Emily looked pleased, Penelope looked frightened, and Jennifer and Rossi looked conflicted. 

"You can't be serious," Derek hissed at him. "We received a dead rat last night." 

"I think our best bet is for Emily to search Liam's room," Aaron said, voice still hushed. Derek rolled his eyes. "It's not a good plan, but it's a plan. Besides, what I was thinking is if we see anything in there, we put it back, and then we make an anonymous call to Strauss saying there are drugs in his room. His room will be searched and they'll find it."

"Or she sweeps the entire call under the rug," Derek pointed out. 

"A direct call she might not be able to. Sighting, assumptions, and such she could, but this could have repercussions," Aaron replied.

"So could messing with autopsy results," Jennifer said. 

"Look, if we find something then we figure it out from there. This is the only plan we've got, we have to at least try it," Aaron reasoned. He hadn't looked overly fond with the prospect, almost grave about it, in fact. 

"I'm down with it," Emily said. "We need to stop sitting around and doing nothing. It's going to get us killed." 

"Shhh," David hushed her, finger pressed to his lips as he scanned the room. "We can't talk about this here." 

"Well, our rooms aren't much safer," Jennifer pointed out. "Especially not mine. I think my roommates want to have an intervention about you guys." 

The rest of the group snorted, except Derek, who just looked into space. He gulped, and Spencer could see his adam’s apple bob. He flashed his eyes nervously to Spencer's, and they locked for a moment. Spencer couldn't figure out quite what Derek was trying to portray to him, so he just raised his eyebrows in inquiry.

"I know a place," Derek announced. Spencer's eyebrows shot up even higher, and his mouth made an audible pop as it opened. The whole group turned their attention to Derek in confusion. "No one else knows about it, and its totally safe." 

"Where?" Aaron asked with apparent suspicion. It must have seemed impossible, for Derek to know of a place for so long and not inform anyone of it prior. 

"I don't want to say right now," Derek told them all, tone hushed. He looked at Spencer, and bit his lip. Spencer felt a pang in his heart, it must have hurt Derek to give up the one place he felt at home and safe. "But meet me tomorrow night, past curfew, on the grounds near the garden. I'll show you to it." 

"Where the hell is this place?" David hissed. "Is it even on campus?" 

"...kind of," Derek answered. 

"Kind of?" Jennifer repeated, worry evident. "How long have you known about this place?"

"...A While," Derek responded. 

"What do you mean awhile?!" Aaron hissed at him. "You've had a private place where we could have met this whole time and you didn't say anything?!" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Is that where you've been going at night?!" 

All eyes were on Derek, and Spencer could tell that despite how intimidating the boy was, that he himself was nervous. "Everyone needs quiet," Spencer said in a sad attempt to stand up for him. But then, he noticed his grave mistake when all eyes shot towards him and Derek looked exasperated. 

"He knew?!" David asked. He pointed his finger at Spencer in an accusatory fashion, and Spencer shrunk away. "You barely know him!" 

Derek sighed and ran a hand over his scalp. "This isn't easy for me." 

"Isn't it dangerous to sneak out on the grounds after dark?" Emily asked, apparently willing to give Derek a break from his "betrayal". 

"We'll all be together," Derek reasoned, voice still hushed. "Just...trust me on this, alright? I've never let any of you down." 

"Yeah, that one chemistry final was just a fluke," David reminded him, eyes playfully narrowed.

Derek laughed. "The fact that you even thought I could help you with that is ridiculous, man." 

"You tried to help him with a chemistry final?" Spencer asked with disbelief, both of his eyebrows raised, and his eyes almost slightly mocked the other boy. Derek just glared back at him, though his lips twitched up.

"You know, kid, there is a brain somewhere in here," Derek told him.

"Yeah, if you do an x-ray, get a microscope, and look really hard, you just might find it," Emily taunted, her mouth curved into a smile. 

"Leave him alone," Penelope told her, her voice in a coo. "He has a big beautiful brain the size of his heart." 

"Aw, mama, always coming to my rescue," Derek crooned back, and placed a hand to his chest. 

"You all have the worst attention spans," Aaron informed them as he shook his head. 

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Focused, we don't all have a pretty blonde that we stare at all day," Emily replied to him, and gestured her head towards Haley, who was laughing with some of her friends.

"You guys have the option," Penelope pointed out, and gestured to herself. 

"Two, in fact," Jennifer agreed. 

"What do you think, Spencer?" Derek asked, and tossed his arm around the younger boy. "Do we have some beautiful women for company, or what?"

"Um...yes?" 

"Good answer, kid." Derek winked at him. "You're learning."

"Learning? Oh dear God, tell me you're not making Spencer your mini-me," Emily groaned. 

"Well why not? Apparently Spencer is the Robin to his Batman," David mused, his voice held a dark tone to it. "That's why he showed him the batcave." 

"Aw! Don't be sad! Batman has more than one Robin!" Penelope reminded him. "Well, not all at once. But he had Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne-."

"I'm not jealous," David cut her off in annoyance. "I'm just still wondering why he didn't tell any of us about it." 

"Listen, man, I'll explain everything tomorrow, okay? Wait...crap...happy almost birthday, Aaron," he muttered. 

Aaron rolled his eyes and snorted. "Please," he scoffed. "You guys know I hate birthday celebrations." 

"Why?" Spencer inquired curiously.

"Because Aaron and fun don't mix," Derek informed him, arm still around the younger boy who looked up at him with large eyes. "At least, not anymore." He looked at Aaron and winked. "But I'd still like to let the beast out tomorrow." 

"Can we please stay focused on the problem at hand?" Aaron insisted, he did his best to ignore the looks Derek was giving him. "We really need to focus on this, we can't mess it up."

"Is the plan the same as the original?" Emily asked, she'd sobered up quickly, leaned in, and spoke hushed. It was insane the paranoia they all felt, like someone's eyes were constantly upon them. 

Aaron nodded his head, he'd shoveled french toast into his mouth. He swallowed harshly, and took a sip of orange juice. "You sneak in," he whispered. "While Spencer is out with Liam and his friends, you search the room, Spencer sends you text messages for when they're going back, and no matter what you leave immediately."

"What if they don't accept me back into the group?" Spencer inquired. He fiddled with his fork anxiously, his foot tapped rapidly on the smooth floor. "It's been awhile. I've been obviously avoiding them." 

"Then we figure something else out," Aaron answered with surety. "I know one thing for sure, we can't sit around doing nothing for any longer. Or we die." 

"My friends are getting really suspicious," Jennifer informed them. "It's insane. They want to know why I've drifted, and think I'm losing it after Kathryne." 

"Well you obviously are," Emily said. "I mean, look who you're hanging out with."

Jennifer let out a tiny laugh in response, and raked her hand through her hair. "It's funny. Everything seemed so...normal when I was with them. Then I get away from them and everything just seems like it was..."

"A crazy dream?" Penelope suggested. 

"Nightmare," Jennifer corrected. "Everything just seems so petty." 

"Welcome to boarding school," Emily said dryly. "You're either petty or hunting a serial killer." Emily gave Jennifer a smile, which the blonde returned. Their relationship had improved drastically with time; which was good, Spencer hated conflict. 

"I don't know if I like this plan," Penelope said honestly. She eyed Aaron, and then Spencer, her gaze weary and nervous. "I have a really big fear that this will go horribly wrong."

"60% of the things people fear never come true," Spencer offered. 

"You hack into places that could get you thrown in jail for YEARS, and you're worried about Emily searching through some kid's bedroom?" David asked her in astonishment.

"I'd like to clarify a few things there, my dear sweet David," Penelope begun. "First off, if I was thrown in somewhere for years it would most likely be prison, not jail." A muttered 'Okay Spencer' was the reply she received. "Second off, this is some kid who could have possibly killed people...and a rat. I don't want him coming near my family." 

"He's already near us," David told her, he'd obviously become more used to the idea of carrying out the plan. Spencer watched him with interest, there was this odd chill in the room which made him shake, and he nearly shared Penelope's fear. "All the time. Every day. Watching us, making us scared to talk, we need to put an end to this." 

"Or we all die," Jennifer completed. "God, this is insane. We shouldn't be doing this alone."

"We've got no one else to help us," Aaron said. "It's just us." 

"This is not how I planned my senior year going," Penelope whimpered. 

"It'll be okay," Spencer told her softly, completely stumped on how to comfort her. She looked up from the table and offered him a tiny smile, and he returned it. 

"He's right, babygirl," Derek agreed. "I don't like this plan. At all. But everyone is going to be okay, alright? We'll protect each other." 

"Promise?" 

"Promise."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer swallowed down the anxious lump in his throat when they urged him to go over to Liam's table. Sweat seemed to suddenly slick his skin, and he felt disgusting. His hair stuck up in all odd directions, and his lips had been bitten red and chapped. His fingers twitched anxiously underneath his plate as he cast a look back at his friends. Breakfast was midway through, but he needed to talk to them before they went off to whatever they had planned for their Saturday. 

Spencer took in a deep breath, and approached Liam's table. They were all already seated, and were talking amongst themselves. They hadn't even noticed Spencer approaching until he stood right before the table and cast a shadow upon them. All of their heads seemed to turn towards him at once, surprise, and some annoyance, reflected in their eyes. 

"Well," Amelia drawled, she twisted a finger through her hair, and her eyes flickered up and down Spencer's form. "Look who it is." 

Ella gave Spencer a nervous smile, and Spencer frowned at her demeanor...she seemed...off. She also looked completely exhausted, like she'd had to force herself out of bed that morning.

"I...I'm sorry I've been kind of..."

"Elusive?" Owen supplied. He didn't look particularly upset, neither did Sawyer, who had already proceeded to go back to eating. "We noticed." 

"My friends got upset I was hanging around with other people," Spencer lied, he awkwardly shuffled his feet, and put on the sad puppy expression Penelope told him he always made. "I guess I just...wanted to make them happy." 

"Then go over there." Amelia pointed to the table, where the group was trying to act as though they weren't watching them. "Continue to make your nice little group of friends happy. Why are you here?" 

"Amelia, please," Liam huffed, and rolled his eyes. He flashed Spencer one of his fake smiled, and gestured to a seat on the other side of Ella. "Peer pressure is a difficult thing, take a seat." Ever the diplomat. 

Spencer gratefully took the seat, and Ella once again gave him a shaky smile. He frowned at her, she was acting off. 

"Looks like you can help me with my biology notes again," she said. Spencer smiled back at her and nodded his head in agreement.

"We were all going to hang out at the café again today," Scarlett told him, her eyes watched over him suspiciously. "If your friends are fine with it," she said that part with large amounts of sarcasm. "Then you're welcome to come with us." 

"I'd love to," Spencer replied, almost too quickly. He flushed a little bit, and regained his bearings, cleared his throat. "I-uh...missed the scones." 

"The scones are terrible," Sawyer said, and eyed Spencer like he had to be joking. "They're like rocks with blueberries crammed into them."

"That's because they make them that way on purpose," Ella said cryptically. She drew designs into the table with her index finger, and looked at it fondly. 

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Amelia asked her, and stared at the girl strangely.

Ella just shrugged, and poked at her food. Spencer frowned and observed her, something was wrong. 

"Why do you let those friends control your life?" Scarlett asked, her eyes darted over to the table. She rolled her eyes. "Since when did Jennifer Jareau start hanging around you guys again? I thought she ditched that scene a while ago." 

Spencer shrugged. "She came back, I guess." 

"I wouldn't count on that lasting," Amelia said with a careless shrug. Every piece of her french toast was expertly cut, the syrup on the other side of the plate, and she'd dip the little squares in and chew her food for the same amount of time every time. "She got in with the popular crowd. Once you get a taste of something better than what you've got? There's no going back." 

"That's why you're here," Scarlett said after Amelia had finished, and Spencer looked at her with surprise. "Isn't it?" 

Spencer just smiled stiffly and nodded, not even he had the energy to tell a lie so grand.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

The café was much too cold for Spencer's liking. The temperature outside had really begun to drop, and it was as though the place didn't get the memo. In fact, he even felt a cool breeze at his feet, and wondered if they were still running the AC. There was an old woman in the corner with a winter jacket on, she clutched her cup of coffee as though it were her lifeline. 

"Should old people really be drinking coffee?" Amelia inquired. She looked at the old woman as though she hosted diseases. "My Grandmother never drinks coffee." 

Spencer's phone vibrated, and he pulled it out of his pocket to glance at the screen. 

"The bird is in the nest," it read, and Spencer resisted the urge to snort out loud. "Need name of med for search. Just to be safe." 

Spencer quickly typed out the name, and then plopped his phone back in his pocket when he saw Liam trying to make an attempt to look at the screen. He just gave the boy a stiff smile, while Liam's eyes continued to watch him intently. He really thought he should have a staring contest with Aaron. 

"Who are you texting?" Amelia obviously had no problem being more outwardly nosey than Liam. Of course, Spencer noticed that the girl seemed to be even ruder to him since his return that day. Obviously, Amelia didn't like being second choice. Wasn't that why she hated Derek in the first place? She had to feel better than everyone; and when she felt like she wasn't be picked first, she had to believe that person was lesser to build herself back up; and she didn't associate with lesser, so they never mattered in the first place. The only one who seemed to escape the rule was Owen, and that was possibly because Amelia thought she could still win over Ella. 

"Aaron wanted to know where I was." Spencer rolled his eyes for dramatic effect, and Scarlett followed suit. "Wanted to know why I wasn't hanging out with them today."

"They're so pathetic," Scarlett said with obvious disgust. "You should ask Strauss if you can switch rooms. Owen and Sawyer have a free bed." 

Spencer tried not to shiver in absolute horror at the idea of sharing a bedroom with Owen and Sawyer. The two other boys didn't look all that fond of the idea, either, but Owen tried to conceal it more. 

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Spencer said instead, a polite smile that probably looked more like a grimace graced his face. 

"It's only been almost two months in," Scarlett pointed out. "Yet you're already having trouble." 

"Everything is fine," Spencer assured her. "They're just a little overprotective." That part was true, at least. The group seemed to think sixteen meant six. He blamed it on the fact his growth spurt hadn't quite kicked in yet. 

"I think obsessive is the right word," Sawyer snorted. He had this stale bagel in front of him that he kept poking with a plastic fork. It had to be pretty bad if he wasn't even eating it. 

"How was your Halloween?" Spencer asked the group, changing the subject. He watched Liam's face specifically, for any clues whatsoever. It remained almost expressionless, and all the boy really did was shrug. 

"I hate Halloween," Ella said softly. "It was just invented to sell candy and scare kids." 

Owen frowned at Ella, and tucked some hair out of her face. "You okay, baby? You seem tired." 

"Haven't been able to sleep," Ella replied dully. She drew the same pattern on the table with her finger. Over and over again. Spencer watched it, he tried to figure out what on earth it was.

"You might want to try later," Amelia advised, her voice void of any genuine concern. "You're half dead." 

Ella shrugged with disinterest. Owen frowned and continued to card his hand through her hair, it driftly landed on her forehead for a moment, as though to check her temperature. Spencer saw Amelia grip the table tightly with both hands, her knuckles turned white and her fingers just about looked like claws. She was practically seething. It was as though she thought Ella was acting ill and tired on purpose. 

"You know, Spencer, we practically haven't seen you since homecoming," Liam said, he ignored Ella's behavior as though it were nothing new. "What have you been up to?" 

Spencer shrugged. "Um...the usual?" He offered lamely. "I've been helping out in the gardens a lot." 

"I don't get why you help out that groundskeeper," Amelia said with disgust. "He's creepy."

Spencer frowned. "Creepy? How is he creepy?" 

"He's just pathetic," Scarlett agreed with Amelia. "I swear, people like him need to find a real job." 

"If they do something that makes money then it is a real job," Spencer told her sharply. "He's a good man, and he works hard." 

"He doesn't even dress well," Amelia replied. 

"He works with dirt and soil," Owen pointed out to her, even he sounded exasperated. Amelia's eyes instantly widened, and she sat up straighter. "What do you want him to wear? A suit?" 

"A uniform would be nice," Scarlett said, she wasn't troubled to get into a fight with Owen. Unlike Amelia, who had sobered up instantly and pressed her lips tightly together. "Just because you work with dirt doesn't mean you can't wear a uniform." 

Spencer almost had to fight back the urge to smile. He was positive at that moment that Scarlett would never be a suspect, there was no way a girl that ignorant to work would gut a rat by herself. She'd have to hire someone to do it, force them into a uniform, and direct them from about a mile away. 

They all talked amongst themselves for awhile. Spencer hung back and just listened absentmindedly, he hoped if anything of interest was said that he would be able to catch it. But nothing seemed to come up that was incriminating.

He hoped Emily was having better luck. The brunette was more than capable to lead the investigation at hand. 

Spencer almost felt as though people at school underestimated Emily Prentiss. The way the girls that sat with him talked of her almost seemed to prove that fact. Everyone just took her for what she seemed at face value, a rich kid who tried to rebel against her Mother. She reeked of cigarettes, constantly talked about how she wanted a smoke, drank, and showed little to no interest in the life of luxury. She wanted to decide her own fate, dictate her own destiny. No one saw the fact that she was exceptionally intelligent, one of the best poker and chess opponents Spencer had ever faced, and was probably smarter than anyone Spencer sat at that café table with. Amelia would call her a whore, Scarlett called her trashy, and everyone reacted to her like she was beneath them, but Emily Prentiss was probably above them all. 

Spencer had no doubt that she would succeed in life. 

If no one at the table ever committed a crime, well even if they did, they would probably all succeed, as well. That was something that broke Spencer's heart a little bit. The fact that it didn't matter if you were good or bad, honest or dishonest, kind or unkind, you could succeed all the same. Well, if you had a large bank accounts, and rich parents to pave the way. Emily also had all of that, Spencer assumed they all did, but he knew she would work for everything she got. It might not earn her more money than anyone else, nor would it win her many favors, but at the end of the day, Emily was honest and hard working. She would never take short cuts. 

It warmed his heart a bit that the brunnette believed in him. 

His thoughts were interrupted when his phone vibrated. The whole table turned to look at him as he fumbled for the piece of technology. It was a phone call from Penelope, that alone concerned him a little bit. 

"One second, please," he pleaded of the group, and rose from the table to enter a more secluded corner of the café. He hit the talk button with his finger, he still hated the stupid touch screen. What was so wrong with buttons? Why did people have to abandon things that made all the sense in the world just for something new and fancy? What was so wrong with old and boring? "What is it?" He realized he was rather rude, but he had to get back to the table or he could miss something. 

"You have to get back here, now," Penelope demanded of him, her voice shook slightly. Spencer frowned in concern and eyed the table. 

"What? Why?" He asked. 

"We need to regroup," Penelope told him. "We didn't expect this."

"Expect what?" 

"The pills are Ella's, love, not Liam's, not anyone's. She's schizophrenic." Spencer felt his skin grow cold, and the world seemed to move in slow motion. His eyes zeroed in on Ella's disinterested face as she continued to draw the same odd design onto the table. Over and over. As if it meant something. "She just stopped going to therapy before she came here. She even has a history of hospitalizations in the last year. She developed this all very berry early. You need to get back, Spencer. We're shutting down Emily's search." 

Spencer just continued to watch as she drew her designs. He heard Penelope continuing to chatter on in his ear, but it didn't seem to matter, his eyes were focused on Ella. The quirks that he'd noticed in her...they were side effects of certain antipsychotic medicines. 

How had he never noticed? 

She stopped her drawings, the conversation around her still chattered on, but she rose her head and her gaze met Spencer's. It was as though the world were on mute and they were the only two in the room. 

She smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now I would like to know what you guys think. Do you think Ella is the killer? If not, I'm really curious to know who you all think is! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’m SO sorry for the late update! I’ve been so busy, and to make it worse I pretty much had to speed edit this chapter to get it. I’m so sorry for the long wait, and I hope this chapter is worth it! 
> 
> Warning: Talks of bullying!

"This is ridiculous," Spencer announced. He was back in his dorm room; he'd faked food poisoning back at the cafe so he could escape easily. He’d gone into the bathroom, then emerged with his hand on his stomach, forehead “sweaty” (he’d strategically placed water on it), and did his best impersonation of misery. Amelia wouldn't come anywhere near him just in case he was contagious, nor would Scarlett. Owen was surprisingly sympathetic, and helped drag his "feeble" form out of the cafe. "It's not her." 

"How can you say that?" Jennifer asked him in awe. She sat on the ground next to Penelope, who looked particularly nervous. "Spence, the pills are hers."

"They could have been taken from her," Spencer pointed out in anger. He stood tall in the room, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes narrowed. The perfect picture of defiance. "Being schizophrenic doesn't make you a murderer," he told them. "Those with schizophrenia are more likely to be the VICTIMS of violent attacks, not the perpetrators." 

"In most cases, yes," Aaron agreed delicately. He looked as though each word that left his lips was carefully thought out, planned. His face was grave, serious, but when wasn’t it? "But in some cases delusions can lead to violent actions, don't you agree?" 

"She can't even pass biology!" Spencer reminded them angrily, arms held out into the air with frustration, no one looked as impressed as they did worried. "She one time said looking at the frogs makes her want to throw up! The mere thought of her dissecting a rat is highly improbable!” Even Spencer had to acknowledge the fact he’d said ‘improbable’, not ‘impossible’. But then again, was anything truly impossible? Things are more unlikely, such as the situation that was at hand. 

"Spencer," Aaron said his name sternly, but his eyes reflected concern. His lips were still in a thin line, all emotion was expressed in his gaze. "Please lower your voice and calm down." 

Spencer couldn't believe what they were accusing Ella of, especially since, to Spencer, it seemed so clear that she could have had the medicine taken from her by Liam, who had been their main subject up until the very point they’d figured out Ella’s condition. Deep down, though, he was still furious at himself for not noticing any of the symptoms of the medicine she was on. He'd had a Mother on the very same medicine, with the very same affliction, yet he still didn't notice the signs in somebody else. It was beyond ridiculous; he was supposed to be a genius. 

"Derek," Spencer looked at the boy desperately. Derek sat next to Aaron, his head bowed, his fingers tapped the bed, almost nervously. "You can't be buying this." Derek couldn’t possibly be, he’d thought it was Liam all along. 

"Penelope dug through her history, Spencer," Derek informed him regretfully, he raised his head to meet his eyes at last. "It makes the most sense."

"No, it doesn't! What motive could Ella POSSIBLY have for killing off sports players?" Silence filled the room, and a motivated Spencer continued onward, "Besides, Liam could have found out we were after him, gotten Ella's medicine, and framed this whole thing on her; which we might actually be able to confirm if you hadn't called off Emily's search early," Spencer said with a glare directed mainly at Penelope, who looked sheepish, and still nervous. 

"Don't blame her," David warned him, he had been standing up, leant against a wall observing the scene quietly. Almost as though he was a fly on the wall. "We all made the decision."

"It wasn't safe, Spence. We didn't see this coming," Jennifer reminded him, as though he hadn’t already heard the words uttered prior. 

"I'll tell you what, if you guys can throw together a POSSIBLE motive for Ella ever committing murder, then I might actually buy it. But now? I'm still focusing this on Liam," Spencer declared. 

"You want a motive?" Aaron asked him, Spencer nodded his head. Aaron’s voice had risen, and Spencer tried not to appear shaken by the fact. "How about the fact that she's having delusions? How about the fact that she could have some crazy idea in her head about sports players, which makes her decide she wants to off them? We don’t live inside her head, Spencer. It could be anything."

"How about the fact that she showed symptoms of being on MEDICINE, not of being schizophrenic. Not until these past few days," Spencer reminded him, he hit his fist together for emphasis, but all it really did was sting his knuckles.

"So it’s physically impossible to have delusions while on schizophrenic medicine, then?" Emily inquired, Spencer glared at her. He thought she might be on his side, since she always seemed to be. "Didn't you say a bit ago you thought Ella suspected the killings? Maybe she didn't suspect them, Spencer. Maybe she committed them." 

"Wow. It's amazing how gullible you all are being," Spencer snapped at them, eyes ablaze. "Whoever could have set Ella up would be counting on this reaction."

"Spencer," Aaron said his name softly, and stood up off of the bed. He approached the angry boy slowly, as though approaching a bull that might charge. Quite a bad idea that would be, and this one wasn't much smarter. "This obviously is personal."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spencer asked him, he looked right into Aaron's eyes. Too angry to be intimidated by the boy. Not only that, but he knew if he cracked he might lose whatever equal footing he’d gained. 

"That means you said that whatever medicine Ella is, I’m sorry, was, on your Mom was also on," Aaron reminded him, his voice still gentle. The gentle tone didn't calm Spencer, in fact, it almost seemed to enrage him more. He’d liked Aaron more when his voice had raised. "You're not thinking clearly, Spencer. If you have personal feelings towards someone who suffered similarly to your Mother, you might start to see your Mother in her. But she's not her, Spencer-." Aaron was shocked when Spencer just about screamed in his face,

"YOU. DON'T. KNOW. ME." Everyone in the room flinched, and Derek begun to stand up in case things got out of control. As though Spencer would transform into a green monster, and chuck Aaron out the window as though he weighed no more than a toothpick. "You don't know me, you don't know my life, and you don't know my Mom. I don't see my Mom in her, in fact, I don't see anyone in her except her. You have no idea what my Mom was like," Spencer shouted at him. "You've known me for almost two months, Aaron. You can't make claims on my life." 

Aaron stared at his face for a long period of time, and the room was dead silence. Out of the corner of his eye Spencer saw Penelope had pressed a hand in front of her lips, and her eyes were wide, she really hated shouting.

"We're a team, Spencer," Aaron told him softly. "She's a suspect, just like Liam is."

"Why?" Spencer inquired. "Because she's schizophrenic? Liam could have found her pills and put them in the rat. Easily. But no, just blame things on mental illness. It's not like that doesn't happen enough," Spencer said cooly, and turned to exit the room. 

"Spence," Jennifer said, and stood up. "You shouldn't be going off alone!" 

"Why not? Owen and Sawyer took me back here, and then went back to the cafe. The rest remained there. Apparently the "perpetrator" is still in the cafe, so what is there to worry about?" He inquired with venom as he opened the door and slammed it behind him.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had felt such a strong sense of relief when he saw Mason in the gardens, so much so that he almost collapsed into tears. He hadn't a clue where else he would have gone, if not to see the older man. When Mason saw him, his face immediately turned to one of concern. He smacked his gloves down, and looked up at Spencer. 

"What's happened?" He inquired carefully. He gave the ground next to him a pat, and Spencer rushed towards it. 

"Thank God you work on weekends," Spencer said with relief. At the raised eyebrow he received, he flushed red. "That came out wrong..." 

"Leave my flowers alone for two days and God knows what will become of them," Mason replied, unperturbed by Spencer's earlier remark. "Apparently you'd wilt away, as well. You look as though you've seen a ghost." 

"I feel like I've seen ten," Spencer joked weakly. He glanced at the soil. "Did you know soil is 49% Oxygen, 33% Silicone, 7% Aluminum, 4% Iron, and 2% Carbon?" 

"In fact, yes," Mason replied with a grin. "Indeed, I did. I also see that you're 100% troubled, and you seem about 60% opposed to talking about it." He looked at the boy with care. "Why not give the other 40% its time in the sun?"

"Because I wouldn't mind letting the 40% wither and die," Spencer said. He then picked up one of the tools on the ground next to them. "What's this?" 

Mason gave him a look that obviously showed he wasn't buying what Spencer was selling. "Please," he scoffed. "Why don't you inform me?" 

Spencer flushed. "A Hori-Hori, sometimes referred to as a "soil knife" or a "weeding knife", the latter name explains it enough," he explained sullenly.

"So, you're so intent on avoiding your problems you're reading to learn about things you could personally teach me?" Mason inquired, and snatched the tool out of Spencer's grasp with caution. "You don't have to speak, Spencer. But, I think it may brighten your spirits." 

"Nothing can," Spencer replied dully. "Not right now." 

Mason raised an eyebrow, and one side of his lips quirked up. "I sometimes forget the dramatics of teenagers." 

Spencer narrowed his eyes. "I'm not being dramatic. I'm sick of...everything." His voice grew choked up near the end, he looked up at the sky. "I want to go home." 

"Is that what this is?" Mason asked him, he placed his gloves on and begun weeding. He still kept an eye on Spencer. "Homesickness?" 

Spencer let out an emotionless laugh, and looked up at the clouded sky. He wondered if it would rain that evening. The forecast said nothing about rain, but it also said it would be sunny, so anything was possible. "I wish." Mason continued to stare at him, which made Spencer give in. "You know how you said I looked like I saw a ghost?" 

"Mhm?" Mason hummed.

"I saw one of the past," Spencer said softly. He picked up a blade of grass, and flicked it into the air. He watched as it gracefully floated back down, and felt his eyes glaze over with tears. 

"Oh," Mason said with sympathy. He looked at Spencer, he silently urged the boy on, and Spencer tried to work up his nerve. 

"A new...development happened recently, and everyone is willing to take it at face value," Spencer explained cryptically. They still weren't speaking as outright as they could about it all. He saw the surprise on Mason's face, then the man cocked his head to the side.

"Sometimes taking things as they come is a good thing," the man advised him. 

"Inductive reasoning is a flawed process," Spencer replied haughtily. "Deductive is much more likely to solve the crime." He gazed at the soil, as though he could burn holes through it with his very vision. "Just because someone seems likely, doesn't mean they fit." 

"Ghosts from the past are quite the haunting things, no pun intended," Mason said with a smile, Spencer didn't even chuckle, he just continued to stare. "They can claw at our souls, haunt our dreams, and blur our judgement." 

Spencer glared at him sharply. "My judgement isn't blurred. I've learned from experience."

Mason's lips quirked up even more so. "Isn't using experience for a totally different event also known as inductive?" 

"You know, if I had wanted to be ridiculed I would have stayed inside," Spencer told him coolly. Mason held his hands up in the air for appeasement, but Spencer didn't feel appeased. He'd wished people would actually listen to what he was trying to say. "I mix my experience with the case at hand. This is just...it wouldn't make sense." 

Mason cocked his head to the side. "How wouldn't it?" 

"The whole way they went about it." Spencer still kept cryptic to the subject matter, not that it very much mattered anymore. But still, tradition wasn't always a flawed concept. "It would be like trying to get away with something, but leaving your ID at the crime scene." 

"People do odd things for odd reasons," Mason suggested. "But might I just say, I still hadn't a clue what you speak of." 

Spencer remained silent. He'd wanted silence. Not to talk. Talking sometimes probably could alleviate someone’s woes, take some of the weight off of their shoulders, put an extra bit of pep in their step. But that day? That day nothing could stop the horrible pangs Spencer felt in his heart. 

"Perhaps a subject change is in order," Mason suggested, and Spencer nodded gratefully. "Might I ask for your holiday plans?" 

"Holiday...? Oh. Thanksgiving. I never celebrated it," Spencer replied dismissively. But he then felt himself grow still. Would his Father allow him home for Thanksgiving? Would his Father want him home for Thanksgiving? He'd never once celebrated it, neither of his parents had been intrigued by the prospect. What would he do if his Father hadn't made plans to have him return home? Even if he did return home...what would he do? 

"Don't panic," Mason soothed him gently. "I'm sure it'll all work out." He looked at Spencer intently. "Have you truly never celebrated Thanksgiving?"

Spencer shrugged. "Was never fond of it, myself." He looked up at the sky. "It just seemed like the calm before the storm."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had ignored the rest of the group for the whole day. He needed to sort his own feelings out, and he couldn't possibly do that with them around. For such private people, they could be insanely invasive. Deep down, he knew some of it was concern. They were worried he'd gotten to a point where he was personally involved in the whole affair, to the point where his judgement was clouded. They seemed to have forgotten the fact that some of them seemed rather partial to Liam's involvement in it all, as well. 

He wasn't personally involved, that he was just about certain. It just...didn't add up to him. But naturally, the more he thought of it, the more Ella's comments ran through his mind at almost a dizzying speed. She'd said some, truly, incriminating things. She had knowledge of events she couldn't possibly have truly known about, and seemed to say them without hesitation. But Ella grabbing a rat, calmly cutting it open, removing its insides, and dumping her own bottle of pills in? It just didn't seem in character for the girl. His brain did, of course, supply the fact that if she were truly suffering from schizophrenia, her delusions didn't have to make sense to him so long as they made sense to her. 

But something just felt as though it were missing.

Derek and Aaron had attempted to engage with him, but, when their attempts were unsuccessful, they simply let the younger boy climb into bed after dinner, and fall asleep. They didn't bother him, or try to make him talk. Spencer knew that since he’d yelled in Aaron's face earlier, he had probably expressed his frustration in the most obvious way possible, and neither boy wanted a complaint to be sent to Strauss because of any more loud yelling, especially not at bed time. Other students had no tolerance at bedtime, and the fact that he'd be yelling about a secret topic wouldn't have improved the situation any, either.

So after he'd written his journal entry, and set it aside, they'd let him toss the covers over himself, and pretended they believed he was truly sleeping. Really, he was running probabilities, letting statistics fly through his mind, stewing in frustration, the whole nine yards. He'd gnawed on his lip so bad he was pretty sure he'd split it right open, the metalic taste of blood was his confirmation for that assumption.

Deep down, he knew the reason he didn't want it to be Ella wasn't just because he was offended by the fact that her being schizophrenic seemed to bump up the groups thoughts on the probability of it being her. Sure, that was a huge part of it. But the true reason might just be the fact that...well...

He considered her a friend.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer had his uniform in arms, his eyes bleary, not to mention red rimmed, he'd barely even gotten a wink of sleep that night, so he wavered where he stood. It was odd, because the physical repercussions of his two months of barely eating his meals, or sleeping, was finally truly beginning to show on him. His skin hugged his bones horribly, his hair seemed almost thinner, and the area under his eyes was constantly blue and puffy. 

But he was pretty sure he might have grown an inch. 

"Hey, kid," Derek called out after him as Spencer reached for the door knob. "Pause and rewind." Spencer frowned and spun around to see Aaron and Derek seated on the same bed, Derek's finger crooked towards him, it urged him forward with the motion. 

Spencer hesitated for a moment. He was tired, cranky, and surprisingly hungry. He just wanted to take a shower, get dressed, and get down to breakfast. Successfully avoiding human interaction until his tasks were accomplished would be a plus. But if he were to storm out of the room, he had a sinking feeling that Derek might actually come after him...and that would have just been embarrassing. So he walked over to the bed moodily, and stood at the end of it. 

"Look, kid," Derek begun. "Yesterday sucked, and we know it sucked." Interesting start, Spencer couldn't help but muse. "But we do realize, with all things considered, that you did make some solid points." VERY interesting start, in fact. It threw Spencer slightly off his game. 

"Spencer, the pills were Ella's. We're confidant of that fact. She's the only one in this school that is on them, and she has a history of hospitalization." Spencer frowned deeply at Aaron's words, he was more intrigued by Derek's statement of him having a point, than all the things he already knew. "But of course, you have a point with the fact that, since the pills are hers, it would have made it a great opportunity for someone to frame her," Aaron acknowledged. "We just have to cover our bases, Spencer."

Spencer stood, and looked at the two other boys, who patiently awaited his response. He felt a slight blush tint his cheeks as his actions from the day prior came back to him. He'd screamed in Aaron's face. "I want to keep hanging out with them," he told them, voice stronger, and braver, than he actually felt. "I need to." 

Aaron closed his eyes, and let out a deep sigh. "Fine," he agreed. Derek shut his own eyes in frustration. "We have a lot to discuss." Aaron glanced over at Derek warily. "But, we should probably save that for tonight."

Spencer had almost forgotten that they were going to meet up that night. He made hesitant eye contact with Derek, he was shocked the boy was willing to give up the one place he went to for reprieve. Derek merely shrugged back at him, his gaze serious. Spencer could see another emotion was floating around in his eyes, but he couldn't quite put a name to it. Although, he assumed the boy felt a sense of woe deep down. It was a place where Derek went to feel safe, and it would soon be invaded and taken from him. 

"You have to keep an eye on two people now, kid," Derek reminded him. "Think you can handle it?"

Spencer smirked slightly. "I think you underestimate me."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Hey, Spence," Jennifer greeted him hesitantly as he sat across from her at the table. Spencer smiled warily back at her. "How are you?" She looked genuinely concerned, which warmed Spencer up inside a bit. 

"Better," he replied softly. "Yourself?" 

Jennifer shrugged. "Soccer game soon, mixed feelings," she admitted quietly. Penelope gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. 

"We'll keep eyes on everyone," Derek told her. He looked like he held the same amount of dread as the rest of them. "We have two suspects now." He kept his eyes trained towards Spencer as he spoke, and Spencer did his best to ignore the stare. "So we need to have our eyes open." 

"Isn't senior year supposed to be the best year?" Emily asked sarcastically. 

"It is for most people," David replied. "But sadly, this is us. We don't get good years."

"Sophomore year was great, though!" Penelope gushed. "We skipped out one night and went to that really awesome party-." 

"You might want to keep your voice hushed, Ms. Garcia," the voice of Erin Strauss made them all freeze up, and they slowly looked up to see the woman. If it was possible for her to look any worse, she managed it. She still stood tall, in control, like always, but her gaze was tired, and weary, her body language, despite showing strength, reeked of defeat. "You have no idea who might hear you."

"Ma'am!" Garcia blurted out, her voice grew anxious. "I swear, I didn't...we didn't...I-Good morning!" 

"Terrible morning, actually," Erin replied. "It's raining cats and dogs. I wouldn't advise going far from school today. I'm tempted to cancel any shuttle buses." 

"We'll be safe, Ma'am," Aaron assured her. Erin scanned him with her intense stare, and thin-lipped expression.

"I should hope so," was all she said. "The last thing we need is another accident." She turned to walk away, when Emily spoke,

"Yeah, we've sure been having a lot of those," she said. She eyed Erin, and added in dryly, "Accidents." 

Erin stood, frozen solid, the rest of the group glared at Emily. "With a school full of children comes the possibility of ill timings," Erin replied to her calmly. "It comes with the territory." 

"Yeah, and this school is sure coming down with a case of ill timings," Emily pointed out to her, voice remained dry, and her gaze bore into the other woman. "What a shame."

Erin worked hard to maintain her calm exterior, and her smile seemed to be strained as she approached the table. She rest a hand on the surface, and brushed some crumbs off of it with distaste. "I assure you all, any problems are being fixed accordingly. You need not worry." 

"Well, thank you for assuring us," Emily replied sarcastically. "Ma'am," she added with venom. 

Erin just continued to stare at Emily, unreadable emotions flickered through her eyes. But she just brushed more crumbs off the table. "I'm glad we had this discussion," she said primly. "Now, if you will all please excuse me, I must have a talk with Janet, she should have cleaned this all up." With that, Erin's heels clicked away with her exit. 

"What was that?" David hissed when Erin was out of earshot. "Are you crazy?!"

"Sorry," Emily said sarcastically. "Did I offend your girlfriend?" 

"Now she might know we know something-."

"Good," Emily hissed. "People are dying, David. It's not like she's overlooking a leaky roof," she snapped with hatred in every octave. 

"Actually, a leaky roof is a pretty big deal," Spencer cut in. He looked down at his food. Blueberry pancakes. They actually looked quite lovely, a nice golden brown with little blue bundles slightly poked out of the top. He really wished he could have been more excited about the fact. Despite his appearance, which made him look as though he were starving, and he quite felt it, he just wasn't compelled to eat anything. He craved food up until the point it was placed in his mouth. "It can lead to-."

Emily held up a hand to silence him. "As much as I'd like to hear of the dangers of a leaky roof, I think it's best we save it for later," she said dryly. 

Spencer smiled at her, awkward, and shy. "Right," he agreed. 

"Strauss isn't in a preferable situation," Aaron pointed out grimly. It was as though it physically pained him to defend the woman. "On one hand, if she shut down the school the kids would be safe, but the killer would most likely get away, on the other hand, if she keeps it open she risks more students dying."

"Yeah, but here's the thing, she's not doing anything else to stop it," Jennifer pointed out. She looked absolutely disgusted. "She's just letting it happen. She's covering for him."

"Or her," Derek reminded her, and Spencer stiffened slightly. 

Spencer cast his gaze over to where Ella sat. She had her head resting in her hand, dark circles, and bags, under her eyes, her food sat in front of her, untouched, and her hand kept tracing designs on the table. Her rumpled clothes, and unwashed hair, clued Spencer in on the fact that she slid seemingly quickly. But he recalled days, perhaps even over a week, before they received that rat that Ella had begun acting strange.

How long had she been off her medicine? 

He saw Owen staring at her in concern. He raised a hand to rake it through the tangled strands, and Spencer felt his heart ache. He wished he could have seen his Father look at his Mother like that. With concern for more than just himself. Wished he could have seen him attempt to comfort her. Diana Reid told her son many stories about how in love they used to be, once upon a time. Spencer often wondered how it could have fallen apart so easily. Was it money? Greed? Image? He hadn't a clue. 

Spencer didn't hate his Father. At least, he didn't think he did. Because as much as he despised the man's actions, he couldn't help but want the man to love him. His Mother always assured him he did, but he sometimes wondered if his Mother had done what all great Mothers did, lie to make him feel better. 

Of course, something he always adored about his Mother was the fact that she didn't lie to him. She almost treated him like an adult. 

"Hey, kid," Derek's voice dragged him out of his musings, he then lightly tapped his arm. "What's going on up there?" 

Spencer shook off his raging emotions, and just shrugged his shoulders in indifference. He begun to cut up his pancakes, he needed to start eating again, before he got into serious trouble. Not eating enough could cause some unpleasant side effects, ones he hadn't the time or energy to deal with. So he decided he had to suck it up, and shovel the food into his mouth, no matter how much his stomach valiantly tried to reject it. "Nothing," he finally replied. 

"Now, that's just a blatant lie," David said. "For Spencer Reid to have nothing going on inside his head, the world would have to end." 

Spencer rolled his eyes as Derek chuckled beside him. Spencer just couldn't shake the horrible feeling he had built up inside of him. As he watched Ella, he couldn't help but feel pity in his heart. Maybe his judgement was, in fact, compromised. He was starting to feel more sympathy for the potential perpetrator than he was for the victims. 

But as he looked at Ella, with her head held in one of her hands, her eyes drooping shut, he just didn't see a cold blooded killer. But of course, if all killers looked like killers, the police, and FBI, would have a much easier job. Sadly, killers sometimes looked like average people, kindly unsuspecting, and sometimes they'd even look like Ella, ill and lonely. 

"She's not going to do well off her medicine," Spencer said woefully. 

"Well, if we're right, it doesn't seem like she was doing much good on it," Jennifer pointed out. She smiled at Spencer a little bit, as if to show him some form of understanding. 

But he was pretty sure Jennifer, nor anyone else at the table, understood. Not fully, anyway. 

"So, are we still meeting at the spooky sneaky hideout place?" Penelope whispered, and looked at Derek intently. The boy just gave a curt nod in response, Spencer saw his whole body was stiff, and he could feel the dread that radiated off of him. 

"After dark, huh?" David inquired. Another curt nod was given in response. "Should we dress in all black?" The question was asked with evident sarcasm, and Derek leveled the other boy with a glare. 

"Well, hey, the meeting tonight isn't the only thing we have to do today," Penelope sung, and Spencer watched as Aaron's eyes went as wide as saucers, he held up his hands.

"You promised," he reminded her.

"I lied!" She cheered. "Happy Birthday!" She called out, so that the whole dining hall turned to look at them. Their whole table then erupted into an out of tune rendition of Happy Birthday, while Aaron hid his head in his hands.

"Please stop," he moaned with despair. Even Spencer sung along, while Derek slung an arm over his shoulder. "People are staring." 

After they were done singing, the dining hall actually applauded. Erin demanded order, while Penelope rose to take a bow. "Happy Birthday," she concluded as she sat back down again. Aaron still held his head in his hands. 

"Yesterday you promised you wouldn't make a big deal out of it," Aaron reminded her once more. 

"I waited! I haven't even given you your special birthday hug yet!" Penelope said. 

"Looks like we're the two adults," Emily stated with a grin. "Whatever shall we do with all this power?"

"Use it wisely," Aaron replied, but couldn't resist the smile that split on his features. "Thank you all. But PLEASE let this be the end of it."

Penelope let out a dramatic sigh, and rest the back of her hand to her forehead. "Alas, Spencer must go on another ninja mission." She reached out her hand towards his own. "But, he will return to us in time for cake."

"Cake?!" 

"Don't worry, it's vanilla!" Penelope informed him, as though it would help. Spencer never saw someone look so horrified at the prospect of birthday cake.

"Just like your sex life," David quipped. Aaron simply ignored him, while meanwhile Derek got quite a chuckle out of the remark.

"Penelope, we settled on the fact that I don't like making a big deal out of my birthday," Aaron reminded her once more, but Penelope just continued to beam at him. "Also that the best present to give me would be for you not to give me a major celebration."

"Uh-huh," Penelope agreed, and nodded her head, but a sly smile had formed on her lips. "Behind you, tough guy."

Aaron frowned, then turned around to see Haley slowly making her way towards the table. All the color drained from his face, and Derek whistled lowly. Aaron frantically turned his eyes back to the rest of the table, who all were watching as she approached. He opened his mouth to speak, but by that point Haley was already tapping his shoulder. 

Aaron held his breath, and slowly turned around, Haley stood there, a pleasant smile on her face. "Hi, Aaron," she greeted cheerfully. "Happy Birthday!"

"H-Hi," Aaron said forcefully. It was obvious that Derek and David were trying to withhold snorts of amusement. "Hi, Haley! Thank you! Yeah...thank you!" Spencer raised a brow at the older boy's interaction. 

Haley just continued to smile, Spencer then noticed one hand was tucked behind her back, and it was slowly coming forth. "You only turn eighteen once, so I." She paused for dramatic effect, then threw her hand out in front of her to show a nicely wrapped package. "Got you this!" 

Aaron's eyes went wide, his mouth dropped open a little bit, the rest of the table looked at each other, and smirked. Aaron's hands slowly wrapped around the package as Haley released it, their fingers briefly brushed together, which caused the boy's cheeks to deepen in color. 

"T-Thank you! Thanks so much! Should I-uh-should I open it now?" Aaron inquired. 

Haley shook her head. "Any time is fine, really. I just wanted to get you something," she said. She looked as though she was about to walk away after that, but she paused for a moment. Aaron's head had drooped down to look at the wrapped package that he twisted and turned in his hands, so he didn't even notice when she approached him, and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. 

"Bye," she said softly. She then turned and walked away, while Aaron sat frozen to his spot. Once she was out of hearing distance, Derek let his chuckle slip out.

"Man, after years and years, you finally almost got to first base," Derek said. Aaron's cheeks were still heated, and he sat at the table stiffly. 

"Something tells me that." David gestured to Haley, who went back to sit at her own table. "Is better than whatever is in that." He then gestured to the little gift still clutched in Aaron's hands. 

It was so odd, Spencer had to muse, that with everything going on that they were still kids. Aaron's life could possibly be at stake, yet there he was, face flushed bright pink, hands clutched the gift like a lifeline, he was the spitting image of a lovesick teenager. 

"You have to ask her out on a date, man," Derek said. 

"He's right," Jennifer agreed. 

"She is so into you!" Penelope squealed happily. 

"We have more pressing matters than my love life," Aaron reminded them, he was attempting to try to get the firmness back into his voice, but the pink on his face ruined it. 

"Do you really want to put your life at risk knowing your cheek is all that she's kissed?" David inquired. He wore a smug smile on his face, and Aaron just continued to shift uncomfortably.

"Back to the problem at hand," Aaron cut in before anyone could harass him. "Spencer is going to hang around with their group today. He'll be fully prepared to notice everything that happens around him."

"Spence, are you sure about this?" Jennifer inquired, concern evident in her voice. "This isn't exactly a shameful thing to back out of."

"What other options do we have?" Emily inquired, she obviously didn't like the idea any more than the rest of them, but she was thinking logically. "We can't just drop this. Not when we have a chance of being close." 

"Close to what?" David asked. "We've got no evidence either of them did anything, and I don't get how we're going to get that." 

"I'm not letting another body drop, man," Derek told him forcefully, his voice leaked conviction. Spencer looked at him with sympathy. For someone that had lost two friends, Derek was holding it together miraculously well. Spencer wasn't sure how it was that he was falling apart into pieces, yet Derek held it together perfectly. Of course, there was the occasional look in the boy's eyes, it was a hard look to describe, but it was almost as though, for a second, walls dropped, and horror could be seen in them. Spencer was pretty sure the horror lived within all of them, but the group seemed to be experts on hiding their true emotions...which either made them the best group of people to deal with the situation, or the worst. It depended how you looked at it. 

Out of all the people in the boarding school, it seemed their group was the leading experts in hiding how they truly felt. It was a blessing, it was a curse, but it was who they all were. Spencer was used to having to hide how he felt, things about his life, his Father made him. He was never allowed to speak of his Mother's illness...even though he had absolutely no one to speak to. His peers bullied and harassed him, he was friendless. He couldn't burden his Mother with his problems, not when she already had so many of her own, and he couldn't turn to his Father for obvious reasons. He was alone.

But the problem with burying your secrets, your feelings in general, down deep was the fact that they always bubbled to the surface. The idea that you could keep your demons locked inside of you, hidden in a cage, was a flawed concept. No one could ever truly keep something hidden for too long, or it would begin to eat at their soul. 

Secrets were a terrible thing. Because no matter how much you'd dread having to keep them, the thought of them getting out was enough to force your to bear the burden. But sadly, the weight of the burden was much too heavy, it was eventually crush you.

Spencer was pretty sure that burden rest upon each of their chests. 

~.~.~.~.

"Feeling better today?" Owen inquired. They were all, once again, seated at the cafe that Spencer loathed. An old man was poking his scone with his fork, and muttering to his wife about the terrible food that they served "nowadays". He went on to say that if anyone served him food like this when he was a boy, it would have been chucked at their head. Spencer truly didn't understand how that made it a better point in history. 

"Much," Spencer answered pleasantly. He'd learned his lesson about the scones, at long last, and only a tea sat in front of him. It was too hot to even gently touch, so he had to wait. Not that it much mattered, even when it cooled, he didn't much care for the taste. "Thank you for asking." 

"The fact that the food is making you ill is a big problem," Scarlett told him. She wasn't looking at him, though, her eyes were directed towards Ella, who was picking at the styrofoam of her cup. "You should tell Strauss."

"Don't tell her," Ella said absentmindedly, she still picked at her cup. "She doesn't listen." 

"Well, she should," Amelia stated. "They keep serving eggs, and they're never cooked." 

Sawyer shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "I've never been sick." 

"You could eat a living animal and still be okay," Amelia quipped, and the rest of the table snorted their laughter. "That's not saying much." 

"You're a moody little thing when you're hungry, aren't you?" Sawyer taunted, not seemingly perturbed by Amelia's remark. Amelia rolled her eyes in a huff of annoyance. 

"I'm not hungry," she replied. "Don't dismiss my emotions on food, or lack there of."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sawyer responded. "If I had to dismiss every bitchy thing you said on account of you being hungry, you'd be dead of malnutrition by now." 

Amelia's jaw dropped in shock, and Sawyer's remark seemed to surprised a laugh out of Ella; which startled Spencer into looking at her. There was genuine humor in her eyes, although they hadn't switched from looking at the styrofoam cup.

"Excuse me?" Scarlett asked Sawyer. "You have no right to talk to someone that way." 

"Oh lighten up," Sawyer groaned, he threw his head back and let out another groan. "You're always so serious all the time." 

"Here's to hoping it'll rub off on you," Amelia said, both of her fingers crossed in mock hope. 

Sawyer winked at her. "Don't hold your breath." 

"Or do," Ella said. Spencer's head immediately whipped around to look at her. But there wasn't much to see. Her face had turned neutral, her expression wasn't dark, nor was it light, it wasn't quite readable. But Amelia's, on the other hand, was. 

"Excuse me?" She asked. "Care to clarify?" 

"It was just a joke. I do joke sometimes," Ella said softly, her finger still picked at the cup. "You know, the cook smokes," she continued randomly, most of the people at the small table gaped at her, the topic seemed to come out of nowhere. "Isn't that awful? Heard he smokes right in the kitchen." 

"I'm pretty sure that's a rumor," Scarlett said, she, for once, seemed at loss for any other words. Her eyes suspiciously scanned Ella's form, judgemental and analytical; but, still at the same time almost...impersonal. She stared at her as though she were a piece of trash on the wall of a fine exhibit, and she couldn't understand how it got there. 

"Not a rumor, I've seen it," Ella replied. Though her tone lacked surety, or conviction. It sounded almost dead. No true emotion could leak through it, at least not any that was detectible. 

"Ella," Owen said her name softly, his concern clouded over his entire face as he pressed a gentle palm to the girl's shoulder. "Maybe we should get back so you can get some sleep?" 

"If you spend too much time sleeping, you might as well be dead," Ella answered plainly. She'd grown bored of picking at the cup, apparently, and had proceeded to tip it slightly on its edge and twirl it with the tip of her finger. A recipe for disaster. 

Amelia and Scarlett both looked to each other with disbelief, while Sawyer looked to Liam as though he would hold the answers. Liam just shrugged his shoulders and drank out of his cup, either he was playing it off as though he had no idea what was going on, or he was truly clueless. 

Spencer observed Owen next. The boy's face was clouded with concern, his hand still gripped Ella's shoulder but there was almost...knowledge on his face. Perhaps some dread? It was then that Spencer realized that Owen might have been aware of Ella's condition. 

Perhaps to find out more about Ella, the first person he should get close to his Owen.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer explained his idea to the group, while they all dug into Penelope's delicious cake. It was moist, and sugary sweet to the point where you almost felt fear it would rot your teeth right out of your head. A little scoop of ice cream sat beside it on most of their plates, but Spencer avoided the extra sugary treat, so as to not upset his allergies too dearly. Not that Penelope would have let him, anyway. He'd almost eaten a dish for dinner one evening that contained cheese, and she made him march back to trade it out.

"Do we have to have talk shop at birthday parties?" Penelope asked sadly. Vanilla icing was stuck to her red bottom lip, the color of her lips slowly shaded it to a pale pink.

"Yes, we do," Aaron replied simply, and turned his attention back to Spencer after Penelope released a mournful sigh. "So you want to get close to Owen to find out more on Ella?"

"Not just Ella," Spencer responded, his mouth slightly full of cake, so he had to cover it with his palm in honor of politeness. "Liam, too. They've known each other for awhile. Maybe the best way to find out details isn't to watch over them like hawks, but to get close to the people who are close to them?" 

"It's a different strategy," David said. "A rather wise one, as well. I'd say it could be your best bet." 

"You know, his friends might not be as censored as he would be, same with Ella. Right now they think you're playing the game of following them around and seeing what you learn from them, change the rules of the game and you just might win," Emily stated. Spencer had become fond of the fact that she seemed to support a lot of his more recent decisions. She even gave him a tiny small, like she knew what he was thinking. 

"We can discuss this more later," Aaron said, he stared at the door like it would burst open at any moment. 

"This is awful," Penelope stated. "We can't even have discussions anymore." Her voice had slightly cracked on the last word, and Spencer saw that Derek was prepared to go over and comfort her if need be. 

"We can...but just about...other things..." Jennifer trailed off, apparently not knowing exactly where she was going with her comment.

"Speaking of other things, I thought you were keeping close ties with your old friends," Derek said. 

"I am..." Jennifer responded slowly, perplexed. Her long blonde hair had gotten stuck in some of the icing at the corner of her mouth, and it mixed in with her lipgloss. She batted it away with frustration, while Emily and Penelope attempted not to snicker at the show. 

"You don't seem to be hanging out with your old friends as much, is all," Derek said. He looked directly at Jennifer's face, as though to gage the reaction that he'd earned from his words. The blonde simply looked away for a second, got her hair out of her face, and shrugged. 

"I don't know," she answered lamely. "I guess I just...like it here more." She raised an eyebrow. "Why? Would you prefer I not be around as much?"

"No!" Penelope blurted out immediately, she nearly dropped her cake. "We LOVE you being here." She smiled. "We're just happy to have you back, JJ." 

"It's good to be back," Jennifer replied, then a small smirk came upon her face as she responded jokingly, "PG." 

"That's misleading," Penelope stated. "I'm R rated." 

"NC-17, baby," Derek agreed, then blew her a kiss. She grabbed it in the air, and kissed her palm, then she proceeded to wink at him. 

"Who even invented cake?" Emily asked, she wasn't focused on the conversation at hand, and was instead staring at her plate. "I kind of want to kiss them."

"Actually, the ancient Egyptians were exceptional bakers, who would make honey-sweetened dessert breads, and cake, in fact, begun as a modified bread product. For awhile, there was no real distinction between bread and cake, although, fancy sweet breads were made with a variety of grains, and added ingredients, like dried fruits, seeds, and wine, and were specifically served as sweet treats. The early cakes were flat, and dense, very different than what we associate with todays cake," Spencer begun to explain, and the room looked both exasperated and amused by his description, Emily gestured to him in shock, but many looked as though they probably thought he was done. "The Romans, actually, probably perfected the practice of adding yeast as a leavening agent to cake, and later the Italians." David took a bow. "Who in the 16th century developed the art of leavening without yeast by adding whipped eggs to batter. Both methods, while creating a lighter cake, were time-consuming, rather tricky. But, by the 1800s-." 

"Spencer," Aaron cut him off, one of his palms raised. "As fascinating as this all is," he said that with sarcasm. "Right now I would just like to enjoy my cake, not learn the history of it." 

"Ancient Egyptians though, huh?" Emily inquired, she sounded mildly intrigued. "They invented a lot of cool stuff."

Spencer perked up after his previous deflation at Aaron's words. "Quite! They also invented the breath mint, you see-."

"Kid," Derek cut him off that time. "The fact alone is interesting enough, we don't need the details." 

Spencer reddened, and Penelope actually looked kind of sympathetic. "But that is really interesting!" She assured him. "I mean, now when I use a breath mint I know who to thank."

Spencer smiled at her, and went back to his cake. Maybe silence wouldn't be so bad, even though his voice ached to tell them the whole fact. They didn't even let him finish about the cake. 

The fact was interesting, he was pretty sure of it. 

More interesting than Aaron's failed attempt at a love life, anyway. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Spencer inquired to Derek as the two sat alone in their dorm room. The others had gone to watch some movies in the main room, neither Spencer or Derek were interested in the mediocre selection. 

"No," Derek answered honestly, and grinned at Spencer from where he sat on his bed. "Not at all." 

Spencer bit his lip, and looked at the other boy sympathetically. He wished his interpersonal relation skills were better, he truly wanted for the ability to put his sympathies into words that wouldn't offend someone, or make the situation worse. Books were much easier, you never needed to comfort a book, you just might need comforting after the book. 

"It's a good thing you're doing, though," Spencer told him earnestly. Derek waved a hand at him, as though to dismiss it. "Really, it is. We have nowhere else to go...you're just doing a good thing."

Derek shrugged. "This whole thing has spun out of control in the span of two months, kid. Remember when we originally thought they were going to keep to a schedule? That's gone to hell. Not to mention the fact they now know we're after them." He threw his head back and let out a long sigh. "If we want to survive the school year, we're going to have to make sacrifices." 

"Still, it's not fair that you should have to sacrifice this," Spencer said. "It's...it's your place of comfort." 

"Yeah, well." Derek shrugged his shoulders once more. "At times like this we don't get places of comfort." 

"Yeah, well, we should," Spencer said with disappointment. Derek smiled kindly at him. 

"You'll have to get used to disappointments in life, kid," he didn't quite say it mockingly, but if anyone else had said it, it would have sounded that way. "You'll get them on a regular basis."

Spencer raised a brow. "I'm glad you think so highly of my future," he said sarcastically. 

Derek snorted. "You'll be disappointed, kid, but if I have my way, you'll be safe." Derek shook his head. "We all go through shit in life, but this? This isn't right. You shouldn't have to be fearing for you life."

Spencer had spent his life of awareness fearing for his sanity, but his life was quite the different story. "Neither should you."

Derek smiled slightly. "Neither should any of us."

"We're going to be fine," Spencer declared firmly. 

Derek raised his eyebrows. "Alright, genius. You make a roundup of probabilities, and statistics to come to that conclusion?"

"Let's call it more of a hopeful hypothesis," Spencer replied with a smirk. 

Derek laughed. "Hopeful hypothesis, huh?" He asked. At Spencer's nod, his grin grew even larger. "No science or math to back it up?" Spencer shook his head. "You know what, kid? I think you have learned something this school year."

Spencer nodded. "Oh yeah," he agreed. "I've learned a lot of things. Such as, to never dump a girl a month after you sleep with her, and to not be a jerk and bite her neck." Spencer tried to fight back his grin at the look of disbelief on Derek's face. A moment later a pillow came hurtling at his head that he almost didn't dodge in time. 

"Brat," Derek remarked, but his grin was still huge, and Spencer was pretty sure he missed on purpose. 

"Brute," Spencer retorted, and tossed the pillow back at him.

He missed.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Sneaking out with both Aaron and Derek was a much different experience. Mainly for the fact that the first time Derek had dragged him out, he'd literally been dragged. Now, Spencer was able to get up himself, put on at least rather proper attire, and sneak out with the two boys. Aaron watched Derek's every move intently, and sometimes whispered for an explanation from him on where on earth he was planning on taking them. 

The sky was pitch black, so was everything around them, which made it hard to maneuver around. Spencer was able to see once his eyes adjusted that Derek and Aaron kept looking back to make sure he was still there, and occasionally Aaron would grab for his jacket just to double check. 

The breeze was so cool it cut through the jacket Spencer had put on, and it made his teeth chatter. The noise seemed to echo through the quiet, and he wondered, if Mason was awake, if he could hear them. He couldn't help but flush at the thought of how outraged the man would be with their plan to, once again, enter the woods after dark. Especially since they were to meet right in front of his gardens. 

The wind let out a roar, and some wayward leaves flew down to land upon them. The colors looked dull, and almost haunting surrounded by the night. 

"I am freezing my kitten socks off." The voice carried slightly through the air, and Spencer squinted his eyes through the dark, as though it would help, to see the outline of Penelope and Emily in front of the garden. "This type of temperature is inhumane. I'm so cold that I physically can't smile. My face is frozen." 

"Locked forever in eternal beauty," Derek said charmingly, which caused both Penelope and Emily to gasp and jump slightly. "Easy ladies, we come in peace." 

"We have a roommate, you know," Penelope whisper-shouted, her voice void of its normal good natured tone. "We had to sneak out past our roommate!" 

"Yeah, and in case you haven't noticed, this girl." Emily gestured down the length of Penelope's form. Penelope, from what Spencer could see, had her arms crossed, was shivering, and had a put-out pout on her face. "Is not one for subtlety." 

"Oh, I beg your pardon, I forgot it must have been me who fumbled all around the room trying to find her shoes," Penelope drawled out sarcastically. Emily just shook her head in response. 

"Well, looks like the gangs all here," Jennifer said, she approached them with a smile. David walked up behind her. "We ran into each other while on the way here," she explained.

"She almost hit me," David added, he gestured to his jaw for dramatic effect. Jennifer just shrugged, a small smirk could be seen through the darkness.

"Shame you figured out who it was before you could get a shot in," Emily joked, and David glared at her...or...well...in her direction. 

"Where the hell are we going?" David demanded. Apparently it was too late, or too early, for him to have patience. 

"Just follow me," Derek informed him. He then cast a sideways glance to Spencer. "Along with Spencer, he knows where it is." 

Before anyone could reply, Derek took off in the direction of the woods.

"Oh, he can not be serious," Emily muttered to herself. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Spencer really wished there could have been more light, simply because he would have loved to have clearly seen the looks on the rest of the group's face when they reached the fort. He wondered if it was similar to his own expression when he'd first seen it. 

"What is this?" Emily asked. "A cabin in the middle of the woods? Are we trying to turn this into an actual horror movie?"

"Shhh," Penelope hissed at her, then lightly whacked her on the arm. "Don't tempt the fates!"

They all followed Derek inside, he had already illuminated the fort with the gas lamps. Everyone looked around in awe, as their eyes adjusted to the dim light. 

"How long has this been out here for?" Emily inquired, she dragged her hand across the surface of the table. Spencer had just walked to stand next to Derek, who was trying to mask his nerves.

Derek shrugged. "I found it, so awhile." He took a seat in one of the chairs. "I fixed it up myself."

"When?!" David asked. He glanced around the fort in shock, and much like the others he seemed to want to touch everything. Spencer simply watched the scene, he waited to see what direction it would go in.

"So you've been getting drunk in a fort in the middle of the woods?" Aaron asked, one eyebrow raised. Derek rolled his eyes, and looked off to the side, as though he were a rebellious child being reprimanded by their parent. 

"Why didn't you tell us about this place?" Penelope asked, she looked rather hurt, which in turn made Derek squirm in discomfort. 

"I wanted a place to myself," he explained softly, he begun to fiddle with his hands. It was so odd, Derek was a confidant, big personality of a guy, to see him so nervous was like looking into a funhouse mirror. Distorted and wrong. "I need quiet time to just...think."

"What? We don't?" Emily asked.

Derek groaned, and unclenched his hands to drag one over the top of his head before he released a sigh. He looked as though he were trying to gather back his bearings. "I know you all do," he said calmly. "I just...I found this place...it was my own," he explained. "I've never had that." 

"Oh yes, and the rest of us teenagers have had plenty of our own space," David responded sarcastically. He then turned to looked at Spencer, who appeared as though he was about to speak up in Derek's defence, which he was. He just hadn't a clue quite what to say. "Why tell him?" 

"Because he understood," Derek said cryptically, the words just seemed to worsen everyone's mood. 

"What? We don't?" Emily asked. "You know, Derek, it's pretty selfish to think that you and only the people you select deserve to join your clubhouse," she spat. 

"This is why I didn't tell you guys," he muttered.

"Why? Because you knew we'd call you out on it?"

"No, because this isn't a clubhouse!" He roared, then shot up from his chair. A lot of the group flinched back, and Spencer watched the scene with wide eyes, he almost felt as though he'd had a part in it, even if he hadn't ever meant to. "This is my solace!" The whole mood of the room seemed to change at the words, understanding even seemed to reach the eyes of few. "This is one place where I can go to feel comfort. I don't have that." 

Emily stared at him, mouth open and eyes swimming with emotions untold. It was incredible to see all the different thoughts fly through her mind, all through her eyes. She then sighed and hung her head slightly. "We all barely know each other," she said. "It's ridiculous." 

"Em, don't say that," Penelope said, and reached for her friend's shoulder. "Of course we know each other." 

"We've been friends for years, and Spencer probably knows more about Derek than we do." Emily gestured to Spencer for dramatic effect. 

"Please," Spencer scoffed. "I don't know anything about any of you. Except." He gestured to Emily. "Your Mom is a diplomat." He gestured to Aaron. "Your Dad is a lawyer, and you have a little brother." Next was Penelope. "You like bright colors, and shiny things." She smiled at that softly as he then went to gesture at David. "I know next to nothing about you." He then gestured to Derek. "All I know about you is that you like this place, you like football, and you hate talking about your home life." Jennifer was last. "I know absolutely nothing about you." 

"You've known us for two months," Aaron reminded him. "Give it time." 

"You guys have known each other for years," Spencer shot back at him. "You guys know about as much about each other as I know about all of you." 

"He's right," Emily agreed, and shocked faces was what she was met with. "We've known each other for years, and we do know details about each other in certain ways but..." She shrugged. "We know nothing about each other's lives. What does that say about us?" 

"That we're not nosey?" David suggested. 

"That no matter how long we've been friends for, we still don't trust each other," Emily corrected him.

"That's a load of bull," Derek dismissed. "I trust you guys more than I trust anyone on this earth." 

"Then why don't I even know who your parents are?" Emily asked. Derek's face immediately clouded over, and he adverted his eyes. "Exactly." 

Silence filled the room, Spencer honestly felt as though he was intruding on an important event for the rest of the group. He sat there, after only knowing them for two months, while they'd all known each other for years. It felt...wrong, almost. Like he didn't truly belong there. The group had welcomed him in with open arms, and he almost felt as though demanding more was far too much.

But after the admission of his Mother's condition, he felt as though he deserved something. Even something small. It had been forced out of him against his will, and he had to fight hard not to resent them all for it. 

"We're all going to die," Emily said softly.

"Emily!" Penelope cried out in horror, and the rest looked at the brunette as though she had grown a second head. "Don't say something like that!!!"

"We can't trust each other, we can't rely on each other, how are we going to survive this with each other?" Emily inquired. She then looked at Jennifer. "You obviously weren't happy, you left."

Jennifer opened and closed her mouth, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. "I regret that," was all she said. 

"But why?" Emily asked. "Why do you regret it and why did you leave in the first place?" 

Jennifer just continued to stare at her, she looked as though there was a world of things she wanted to say, explanations that danced around in her head, but all she could do was shrug. 

"Emily's right," Aaron said softly, everyone then looked at him, bewildered. He was the last person anyone would have expected to agree with her. "We need to come together as a group, or we'll fall apart."

"This is like an episode of Maury," David groaned, then sank to the floor against one of the walls.

"You watch Maury?" Derek asked with a raised brow, and a small grin. David flipped him off in response. "So what do you suggest?" Derek asked, he directed the question at Aaron. 

"We talk," Aaron said simply, and sat next to David on the floor. 

"...I thought we were going to talk about the poisonings," Derek reminded him, he gestured around him. "We've got ourselves a pretty private place to do it." 

"We will," Aaron said. "But we're also going to talk about ourselves." 

"Like what?" Jennifer asked.

"Like our secrets. Things we don't feel we can share with other people," Aaron said. At the looks of apprehension he got, he went on to explain, "It doesn't have to be major. It just has to be...something. Something we haven't told other people." He gestured to the floor around him, almost as an invitation.

One that was hesitantly accepted, but accepted, nevertheless.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

They all formed a circle, of sorts, on the ground. A gas lamp rest in the middle of it, and if anyone looked in they might have thought that they were a rambunctious group of teens about to try to contact the dead, or do some kind of ritual. The way their faces all illuminated was jarring, to say the least. 

"So what?" Jennifer asked. "We all just go in a circle?" 

"Something like that," Aaron confirmed.

"This feels like the scene from the breakfast club," Penelope said, almost with hesitant excitement. Her face had lit up slightly at the thought. "When they all sit down and talk about their lives."

"Except no one has any pot here," David sighed. "Sadly."

"Sadly?" Derek asked in surprised. "Since when do you-."

"That's a secret for another day," Aaron cut him off, hand held up to still the conversation. But he then looked suspiciously at David. "Though...on that other day I really would like to hear about that." 

"One time, back parking lot, not much to tell, thought I had come up with an incredible invention, wore off, I hadn't," David explained in a rush, and a lot of the group laughed quietly. 

"What was the invention?" Jennifer asked.

"Waffle gun."

Derek considered it for a moment. "Huh, doesn't sound too bad to me."

"Patent pending," David joked, Derek chuckled again.

"Wait, this all depends," Jennifer said, one finger held up. "Does it shoot waffles, or is it made out of a waffle?" 

"I don't know. I didn't get that far," David said, and laughter once again shook through the group, even Spencer.

"So who starts?" Jennifer asked once the laughing died down. Everyone sat still. 

No one wanted to go first, and Spencer knew exactly why. The first person who went would have to set the pace for the rest of the evening. They could reveal something major, or they could reveal something minor, either way, they would be the first to do it. No one ever wanted to be the first unless it was for something grand. Like the first man on the moon. No one wanted to be the first person to make a fool out of themselves. 

"Did you guys know I used to take ballet?" Penelope inquired. Spencer raised a brow, okay, apparently they were starting small.

"Did you?" Derek asked with a grin.

"Mhm," Penelope hummed her confirmation. "I loved it. I used to do all these types of twirls, got to wear a big poofy pink tutu, pointy pink shoes, got my hair done up all nice, I was a little princess." She smiled happily...but...there was something there, softly illuminated by the dull light. "I was so happy with it."

"Then why did you stop?" Jennifer asked. "Was it because you came here?" 

"No." Penelope shook her head. Her blonde hair was disheveled, she must have crawled right out of bed right before she and Emily had taken off. "I quit," she admitted sadly.

No one asked the question that was so obviously on all of their minds. "Why?" Penelope would tell them herself, they just had to wait it out.

"One of the other girls...this girl named Alice...I really wanted us to be friends at first," Penelope explained softly. "She had blonde hair...and like I said, her name was Alice. Like Alice in Wonderland? Get it?" They all smiled slightly. "But she wasn't like Alice...she was more like the evil queen the cut off people's heads." 

"What did she do?" Derek asked. 

"She was mean," Penelope answered. "Like, really mean. She told me I wasn't pretty enough to be a ballerina." Penelope's eyes watered, and she rubbed underneath them. "I know it's stupid," she sniffled. "I mean...it was a long time ago. But she used to tease me all the time, and soon everyone else did, too." Penelope rubbed under her eyes again, some stubborn leftover mascara that hadn't come off when she washed her face decided that then was a good time to smear. "They all would make fun of me, and tell me I wasn't pretty, would play jokes on me, and one time there was going to be this really fun party and..." She sniffed once more. "No one invited me." 

"Oh babygirl..." Derek crooned softly, and reached a hand out to clasp hers, her smile was watery. 

"I know it's so stupid," she said. "I really do; but, I quit taking ballet. Told my parents it was stupid and I didn't want to do it anymore," she continued, her voice slightly choked. "The girls kept playing tricks on me and...I was sick of being a joke, you know? I wanted to be pretty and perfect like them." 

"Babygirl." Derek dragged his fingers across her cheek. "You are perfect." 

"You haven't let me finish," she said, but squeezed his fingers all the same, and smiled at him through her tears. "Things kind of went downhill from there. I stopped wanting to hang out in groups of people, and instead took to being in my room with my computers. I'd be lying if I said I didn't hack around, and mess with pretty little perfect Alice's life a little bit. Just innocent stuff, I never wanted to actually hurt anyone. But, I stopped wanting to be around people. I...I was different. I'm fabulous and sparkly, but they dimmed my light down so I gave off no more shine than a night-light," she continued sadly, and dragged her thumb across Derek's hand. It was a good thing they'd sat next to each other. "It wasn't even that I was bullied at school after that...I was just...ignored. No one noticed me. This cute guy in my Math class never even noticed my true brilliance. I was miserable, and I got sent here," Penelope explained, and then smiled around at the group. "I got sent here." 

"...So because you didn't have any friends they punished you with boarding school?" David asked in disbelief. 

Penelope rolled her eyes, some tears still sparkled in them. "It wasn't a punishment," Penelope said back to him. "It was...it was just necessary with...other...stuff...that was happening. I don't-." 

"You don't have to tell us everything, Penelope," Aaron assured her. "Just as much as you want." 

Penelope smiled at him gratefully, and nodded. "Anyway, despite it being a fresh start, I still thought that maybe I'd play it low-key, you know? So I didn't put myself out like I did with Alice," she said. "But..." A smile appeared more fully on her features. "One day after class this guy walked up to me, he wanted my notes, but I didn't know he was talking to me." She looked at Derek. "But then he called me babygirl." A soft smile appeared on Derek's own face. "We became friends, and he acted like I was the most beautiful person in the world," she continued on, her eyes had once again glazed over with tears, but of a different kind. "Turns out he's very perceptive." Derek laughed. "So we became the fearsome twosome, and then our friendship alliance grew, and then a friendship became a family." She turned to look at all of them fondly. "Then we adopted this cute little lost genius." Spencer rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but laugh. "And that is how Penelope got her groove back."

Derek kissed the side of her head, and she let out a small laugh as he pulled her in for a one armed hug. "You're the sweetest, girl," he told her. 

"Mmm, you're correct," she agreed, and winked. 

The others all made comments, and Spencer truly wanted to, but he couldn't get over how to some degree that he related to Penelope's story. All she'd wanted to be was accepted, and instead she was cast out by the very people she wanted to like her. The only difference was Spencer's torture had been constant, whereas Penelope had simply been treated like she didn't even exist. 

Both were horrific events for anyone to have to endure. 

"I had a very different life before all of this," Emily informed them, and just like that, all attention was turned to her. "We did a lot of moving around, my Mom found it dreadfully necessary. It's not like I hated it, but I just wished we could have stayed in one place," Emily explained. Her hands moved to coincide with her story, and Spencer found them almost fascinating to watch. 

"It must have been awful to have to move around all over the place," Jennifer acknowledged. "Have to move to places where you don't even speak the language." 

"It wasn't even the language part that bugged me," Emily said. "It was the fact that it would never be just THAT language. Give it a couple months, we'd be moving, and I might have to learn a totally different one. Not only that, but I was expected to be the very image of perfection." She rolled her eyes and let out a groan. "The diplomat's daughter. I could have had a fantastically crappy movie made of me that would appear on the Disney channel."

"Don't bash Disney movies," Penelope warned her. "They are my past, present, and future."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Emily snorted back her reply, and shook her head. "I was expected to act perfect, dress perfect, speak perfectly, be fluent in every language." Emily wrinkled up her nose. "I hated it. So, I decided to stop." 

"So, you just one day woke up and decided to be a badass?" Penelope asked. 

Emily smiled slightly. "Something like that," she said. "I stopped trying to be perfect. I started to tease my hair, put on black lipstick, eyeshadow, to say my Mom wasn't amused is the understatement of the century." She sighed. "But I wanted to start being my own person, you know? But when I started acting out, and she smelled smokes on me, she decided sending me off might be her best option." 

"If parents can't deal with a problem, they send it away," David said sadly. 

"No kidding," Emily agreed. She looked into the lamp, her expression unreadable. "I just wanted to be someone different. I had a hard time making friends back then...I made them, but it was hard. Because I didn't even want to get close to people, we'd just move. But now? Now at least I get to come back to this place every year. But at the same time, it sucks because I'll be leaving here, and let's face it." she looked at the ground beneath her sadly. "This is the closest thing to a home I have." 

"Oh, sweetie," Penelope cooed and looked at Emily sympathetically, as though she wanted to tackle her to the ground and hug the daylights out of her. 

"I mean, part of me hates it here," Emily admitted. "The food is undercooked, Strauss is a psychopath, and its practically a live in high-school...but its home. After this, what do I do? I don't want to live with my Mom, I don't want her money, I want nothing from her. I want to build my own life. But I don't know how I'm going to do it." 

"You'll have us," Aaron assured her. "We'll help you." 

Emily smiled at him, her eyes had a shine to them, but she looked as though she was trying to resist emotion. "I just don't know who I am," she confessed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm trying so hard to be what my Mom doesn't want, that I haven't had time to figure out who I truly am." 

"You're Emily Prentiss," Penelope reminded her. "Tough, sassy, and sweet." 

"You're only eighteen." David reached a hand beside him to gently rest it upon Emily's shoulder. "Almost no one knows who they really are at eighteen." 

"But how am I supposed to stick to who I am if I don't know who I am?" Emily asked, her tone nearly cracked, and her eyes had begun to water. She quickly brought a hand up to swipe at her face as she tried to wear a mask of indifference. 

"I think at this age it isn't knowing who you are, so much as knowing who you aren't," Aaron said, his tone soft, gentle almost, but still had the firmness to it that they had all grown accustomed to hearing.

Silence had overtaken the fort for awhile, before David cut through it. "Man, that was deep, Aaron," he said sarcastically. Aaron rolled his eyes at him while most of the circle snickered.

"Oh yeah, man, you're much deeper. Hey, Aaron could publish his quote on the side of your waffle gun," Derek quipped. David narrowed his eyes at him in mock anger, but he still released a chuckle. 

"I was under the influence," David reminded him, finger pointed in warning. Derek just held up his hands in submission while his body still shook with laughter. 

"So, anyway," Emily said, smile still on her face. She clapped her hands together. "I guess that's my tale of woe." 

Silence once again filled the fort. Someone had to go next, and those remaining were obviously rather hesitant to do so. 

"There isn't much for me to say," David admitted, his finger twirled around on the floor in a fluid, almost hypnotizing, motion. "Not much I want to say, anyway."

"Just say what you can," Aaron recommended. David nodded his head. 

"I'm not good at this," David confessed. The look of his face in the soft light could only be described as one of discomfort. He looked almost lost, like he didn't quite know what to do with himself. It wasn't something they were used to. "I've never spilled my secrets, I've never had to." 

"It isn't something you have to do," Jennifer said. "You can pick what you want to say, and everyone will understand if you can't find it in yourself to say anything at all." 

David smiled at her, but his face still wore the mask of discomfort. His finger still twirled, Spencer assumed it was a distraction from his own thoughts. "I just feel like there's so much you guys know about me," he said. "Yet I feel like at the same time I hide everything. That comment doesn't seem likely, I'm aware I...talk a pretty big game." He smiled grimly. "But that's what it is, talk." 

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"I mean that I feel like I'm all talk," David answered, his words almost seemed like they painted him as they were spoken. "I talk all the time about my connections, how I do things, how many people I've been with. But I..." He sucked in a breath. "I guess I use it to hide the fact that really? I'm nothing." 

The whole group all froze to stare at him in bewilderment. Jennifer was the first to recover. 

"Nothing?" She asked. "David...you're not...you're not nothing." 

David shook his head. "I'm not much of anything, either," he said. "I just...I don't like forming bonds with people," he continued. "You guys are the only people I've probably ever let myself get close to. I don't really belong anywhere, and I don't let myself. I don't mean much, and I don't do much of anything. I just kind of...exist." He shrugged. "Maybe that's why I want to join the marines so bad. I want to be something...I want to be part of something. I want to do something meaningful with my life." 

"David." Jennifer paused for a minute, as though she needed time to formulate her thoughts. "Just because we haven't done something big, doesn't mean we haven't done nothing at all." 

"But I've done nothing. I talk a big game, and I act a big way, but underneath it all I'm just nothing, and I hate it," David admitted. His finger had stopped its fluid motion, and his face just appeared almost empty, except the pain the flickered in his eyes. 

"You're not nothing now, and you never will be nothing," Penelope assured him. She reached across the circle to hold his hands in her own. "One day you're going to be someone so amazing, that you'll never have to talk a big game ever again, and we're all going to get to walk around and say “have you heard of David Rossi? We KNOW David Rossi. We even knew David Rossi back in HIGH SCHOOL." Penelope smiled at him, large and kind. David slowly smiled back at her, and squeezed her hands. 

Spencer hadn't really talked, he wasn't sure if he had the right. All of them had been friends for so long, and he'd only known them for two months. It felt as though he was intruding on a sacred moment...but at the same time, he just felt insanely lucky to be invited. It was a personal moment for them all, and they allowed him to attend it. Treated him like he was one of them. It was incredible. 

"I guess I owe you guys an explanation," Jennifer spoke up after a while of silence, she let out a large gust of air with her words and looked up to the ceiling. They all watched her patiently, let her gather the words which she wanted to speak. "But I have to warn you, it sucks."

Everyone just looked at her expectantly while she continued to gather her words, not to mention her courage. "It wasn't because I wanted to stop hanging out with you guys," Jennifer said. "I know that sounds weird, because I did stop, and I never gave you guys any explanation I just...left. But I just...it wasn't even so much that I wanted to be popular, as it was that I just felt like I needed to do something different. Be someone different." 

No one made a sound, no one said a word, no one moved a muscle. They all just waited. They'd been waiting for an explanation for a long time, and it was finally to come. 

"I'd been friends with you guys since I first came here. You guys are...you guys are like my family. But I just wanted to try something new, something different. I felt like I hadn't lived." The last word was filled with so much pain and anguish that it made all of them look at her with a mix of interest and concern. "I just...I had to live. I had to try other things. It doesn't make sense, and I guess it's not supposed to. It's a terrible, awful, excuse. But I had to try other things...except it just, it wasn't home," she said softly. "It wasn't like it was with you guys. I mean, the only good thing was probably Kathryne," the name was spoken with a sob, and Penelope looked as though she was ready to reach out for her right then and there. "She was a good friend, a good person, and now she's gone. She's gone. She's gone and she was too damn young to die." 

The room was silent as Jennifer fought off the tears that looked as though they wanted to claw their way out of her eyes. Her face reflected her worthy attempt to try to remain stoic, but they all knew how much it must have hurt her, how much it still haunted all their dreams. The image of a girl so young who died in front of all of them. Not a thing in the world they could have done to help her, to save her, yet they all felt as though they had failed. 

"I went over to her house for two weeks during summer," Jennifer informed them, a ghost of a smile haunted her lips. "Her parents have this gigantic swimming pool, and a backyard like you would not believe. We kicked around a soccer ball together, and it...it was just so much fun." Jennifer shook her head. "I know nothing I say can excuse what I did," she admitted. "It's...it's hard for me to explain. I'm not even ready to explain all of it. But I felt like I needed to move on, and it was a mistake. Not a day passed that I didn't miss you guys, with all my heart."

"Then why didn't you come back?" Emily asked. "If you missed us so badly, then why not come back?"

"I didn't know how." Jennifer raked a hand through her frizzing strands of blonde hair, she shut her eyes for a moment as she tried to regulate her breathing. "I didn't know what I was supposed to say, or if I'd even be wanted back."

"You're family, JJ," Emily said, she looked the side, unable to meet the blonde's eye. "We'll always want you back." 

Jennifer smiled slowly, and reached her hands across to interlock with Emily, who gazed at her in wonderment. Slowly, though, she intertwined her fingers with Jennifer's, and the two held hands for a moment. It was the moment that Spencer knew that although nothing was quite forgotten, it was forgiven. At least, mostly. 

Some scars may fade, but they never truly vanish. Not unless you're a TV show character. 

It was then that Spencer realized that only he, Derek, and Aaron were left. They were the last three that hadn't yet spoken, and none of them looked all that eager to, either. It was odd, Aaron had suggested it, but he probably had since regretted it, if the look on his face was any indication. Derek didn't look motivated to speak, at all, and he avoided eye contact with everyone within the circle. Spencer inwardly grimaced, it was going to have to be him. 

Then, he was shocked when Aaron spoke first. 

"There's a lot I haven't told you guys," he said softly. The group looked at him intently. "There's a lot I don't want to tell you guys," he confessed, head down. It was the most evasive Spencer had seen him look. It was like his tough exterior was slowly melting. "There's a lot of stuff that goes on, and it's not that I don't trust you guys, I'm just not comfortable talking about a lot of it." 

"Just talk about what you can," Jennifer advised. She gestured around the circle. "That's all we did."

Aaron smiled, but it came out more as a grimace, almost as though he was in pain. "I have very...strict parents," he explained, he was obviously holding something else back, but they just let him go on. "VERY strict. They expected a lot, especially from me. I guess I kind of relate to you, Emily, in the sense that I didn't want to be this perfect child." He gazed at the ground, his eyes haunted. "I didn't want them to form me. I didn't want to become them. I might want to be a lawyer, but that doesn't mean I want to be my Father." 

The wind howled loudly outside, and the tree branches hit each other, remaining leaves fell and scattered, blown wild by the wind. 

"I acted out. I knew I'd get...in trouble...but I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted to stop being controlled by them, I wanted to be someone different. Someone stronger." He shook his head, and his face appeared almost cynical. "But of course, nothing ever works out the way you want it to. All I did was bring more harm to myself than good, and it was either here, a military school, or a home for out of control boys," Aaron said the names with disgust. "Part of me wanted to run away, pretty stupid, right? But I didn't want to abandon my brother, even though." He let out a humorless laugh. "I guess I did, anyway." 

"You didn't abandon anyone, Aaron," Derek assured him, reasonably. "You were sent away."

"Yeah, because I was an idiot," Aaron snapped at him, though there wasn't any real anger directed towards Derek, only towards himself. "Because I couldn't just be a good kid and play the game. I just had to rebel against it, and that's how I ended up here. Because of my own stupid actions." He bit his lip and looked to the fort wall, unable to meet anyone's gaze. "But that's changed," he said softly, his temper slowly calmed. "I've changed. I'm going to graduate, with damn good grades, I'm going to go to college, I'm going to become a lawyer, and I'm going to be someone." 

"Of course you are," Penelope agreed with conviction, the rest of the group nodded their heads urgently. "You're going to be the best lawyer the world has ever seen." 

Aaron smiled at her. "Thank you, Penelope." 

"You're going to kick ass, man," Derek agreed. "Gonna have Haley falling to your feet." 

"What'd she get you, anyway?" Emily inquired, and the whole group leaned in.

Aaron flushed bright pink and rubbed the back of his neck. "I haven't opened it yet."

"Dude!" David cried out while the rest of the group groaned or face-palmed, as though they were ashamed to know him. 

"I'm nervous! What if it's just a pair of socks? I'd be getting this worked up over a pair of socks!" Aaron pointed out, his tone defensive, yet oddly high-pitched. 

"So? You'd get a pair of socks from a hot chick, I'd call it even," Derek said. 

"Whatever," Aaron dismissed him. "I'll open them later. It's one of your turns now." Aaron nodded his head in direction of Spencer and Derek. Spencer glanced warily at Derek, who stared back at him, both silently dared the other to go first. 

"Come on, guys," Emily urged, annoyed. "All of us have gone and poured our hearts out. It doesn't even have to be anything big." 

"You guys already know a huge fact about me," Spencer reminded them softly as he fiddled with his fingers. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say. 

"Don't stress it, kid," Derek said softly, then when Spencer looked up he met his eyes, Derek announced, "I'll go first." 

Spencer's eyes widened in shock, and his mouth popped open slightly. He would have bet money on it that Derek would have been the last to go. 

Derek had his hands clasped together, and he let out a deep sigh that shook his form slightly. He cleared his throat before he finally spoke, "I don't like to talk about my personal life, you all know that. I hate doing it, and I don't always find it necessary. You all already know me, who I am, what I'm like. It just doesn't feel needed to me." He looked around at all the faces that surrounded him. "But I guess it is." 

There was silence once more, no noise except for the howling of the wind and the rustling of the branches. That mixed with the dim-light of the lamps was rather haunting. The fear for their lives that they all still felt added to it, as well. 

"Well, I guess I'll start with my Dad," Derek said, and Spencer looked at him with curiosity. "He's dead." The finality of the words sent a pang through Spencer's heart, they had caused him to freeze, and caused his eyes to widen. He'd suspected something of the sort, but hearing something and suspecting something were very different. "My old man was a cop," Derek continued to explain, the pain in his eyes clawed at all of their souls. "Damn good one, too. He loved me, and he loved my sisters." 

"Sisters?" Spencer instantly went to cover his mouth after the word had slipped out. 

"Yes, kid, sisters." Derek eyed him, not with anger, in fact his gaze contained no malice what-so-ever. "Please let me tell my story, I'll get around to that, okay?" Spencer nodded. "Good. So, my Mama is the sweetest woman alive, pretty sure of it. She and my Pops fell in love, got married, and gave birth to my older sister, Sarah. Then came me. Then came my younger sister Desirée," Derek continued to explain.

"Pretty names," Penelope said with a smile. "Your parents had good taste." 

Derek smirked slightly at her, and rubbed her back with one hand. "Yeah." He let the hand drop. "Sarah hated hers for awhile, though. When we were little kids she wanted us to call her Amber." He chuckled. "She ended up getting over it, though." The smile vanished from his face. "I saw my Dad die," he said. The whole group continued to watch him in shock. "He tried to stop a robbery. I was just a little kid..." Derek sighed and threw his head back, then bit his lip. "Was just a kid. Then after that? Well, everything kind of went to hell after that."

"What happened?" Jennifer asked, as if unable to stop herself. She bit her lip after, and Spencer could tell she was silently cursing herself for not just letting Derek tell the tale on his own. 

"We never were exactly rolling in cash," Derek explained quietly. "Both my parents worked hard to get us everything we had, and without my Dad around to make his share of the money." Derek's eyes narrowed. "Some invasive bastards decided to make a phone call to CPS, they decided Mama wasn't fit to take care of us anymore, so I got thrown in the system." 

Everyone gaped at Derek in shock, Penelope had placed one hand over her mouth, while the other hovered in the air. It was obvious she wanted to reach out and grab for Derek, but she didn't look like she wanted to pop the bubble of his personal space, even if it seemed just about nonexistent between the two of them. 

"Didn't take me long to get adopted," Derek snorted. "Shockingly enough. But I got adopted by this uppity, prim, proper, all the fixings family," Derek continued to explain, his jaw locked and he shook his head angrily. "They separated me from my sisters, man," he said. "They took my Mama, and then they took my sisters, and then they threw me in with this family that just wanted a kid to show off. They didn't want a kid to themselves to take care of, they wanted to show how they're taking in needful youth. Wanted to perfect me for the perfect show. Sadly, if they wanted perfection they should have gone somewhere else," Derek said. "Because I wasn't going to give it to them."

“I swear, some adoptive families are the sweetest people on earth, but then there are those small few..." Penelope trailed off. “What did you do?”

"I acted out," Derek answered. "Created trouble wherever I went. Got in with some bad people, and did some bad things." Derek sighed as the group continued to watch him. "You guys don't even get the half of it, these people are awful. They won't even let me see my Mom. They think she'll influence me badly." Derek's voice was starting to get choked up, and he took a moment to collect himself. "Can you believe they have the right to do that? It's insane. Not only that, but once I started to act out? They decided I needed to correct myself, get myself more in the right. So Michael, the guy who adopted me, introduced me to a guy he's friendly with." Derek's eyes grew dark. "Guy taught me how to play football. But when I started to become more work than they must have assumed a child would be." He rolled his eyes for effect. "They sent me here. So they only have to deal with me during summer and holidays." 

Everyone took a moment to absorb it all. All of their mouths had fallen open during some point in the story, and they were yet to close. Out of all the things Derek could have been hiding in his personal life, that was the least expected. 

"That's all I got," Derek said softly. "Or at least, that's all I'm going to tell. I've revealed way too much tonight." He gulped and looked around the circle. It seemed as though the air had grown much chillier than before. 

"You poor baby," Penelope cooed and threw her arms around him, he stiffened up, obviously not quite ready for the contact, or he wasn't expecting the reaction. "You'll be eighteen soon, and then nothing can stop you from seeing your Mom. I'll even take you myself." 

Derek smiled. "You're the sweetest." He wrapped his arms around her. "But come on guys, don't play dumb, you at least had to have known I've been adopted." 

"I've never heard a word," Emily said. "I heard the Millers sent their adoptive son here, but your last name isn't exactly Miller." 

"I use my original last name. It’s the name I want, and no one will stop me from using it," Derek growled. But it lost effect since Penelope still had her arms around him, and was kissing his cheek. 

"I kind of knew," Aaron admitted. "But to be fair, we've roomed together since we've got here and I've learned a bit more about you." He looked at Derek sadly. "Never knew the part about your Mom or sisters, though." 

"I don't want a pity party," Derek insisted as Penelope finally released him, one last fleeting kiss was placed on his cheek. "Life happens." He turned his head to look at Spencer, who just looked back at him with wide eyes. "Think its your turn to go, kid." 

"I..I don't think I can follow that," Spencer admitted, his cheeks flushed red, and Derek just merely raised a brow at him.

"My tale of woe is that bad, huh?" He asked. 

Spencer shrugged, and looked away.

"Sweetie," Penelope cooed, and reached across Derek to place a hand on Spencer's knee. "You don't even have to say everything. None of us did. Even Derek still has some skeletons beating at his closet. Just tell us what you can, no one is trying to pressure you." 

Spencer brought his knees up to his chest, and cursed himself for how childlike he must have appeared. He didn't know what to say. The thought of talking about his Mother made his eyes already water and his throat close up. He couldn't talk. Not about everything. But like they all had done, maybe he could start with something. 

"I don't even know if I have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving," he blurted out, and cursed himself for not having his words lined up. The sentence just seemed out of place. 

"What? Why not?" David asked. 

"My Dad hasn't called me since I've been here," Spencer explained, and tried to keep his voice strong so he wouldn't show just how much the sentence truly hurt him. "We've never been close, and I think he thought by dumping me here that he'd be rid of me. I don't even think he considered the holidays." 

"Two of you not close?" Derek inquired. 

Spencer felt guilt build up within him. Derek had lost the ability to contact either parents, and there he was complaining about being ignored by one. "He doesn't like me," Spencer said softly. 

"Spence," Jennifer said the name with sympathy, but she almost sounded humored. "Of course he likes you."

"You don't understand," Spencer said, his voice might have come out too snappish, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to be patronized, not over something he knew to be fact. "He didn't want me. He wanted a normal son."

"You're a genius," David reminded him. "Didn't he practically win the lottery?" 

"My Mom feels that way," Spencer said, a slow smile formed on his lips. "Said I was everything she could have ever dreamed for, that I was worth everything she had to endure." At the quizzical looks he earned from everyone, he swallowed hard and explained, "You know how I said the pills were ones my Mom took?" He was met with nods. "She...she has paranoid schizophrenia." The group paused. "She went off the pills to have me." 

"That's sweet," Penelope said, and Spencer could tell she meant it. 

Spencer smiled softly. "It was. She said I was worth every single second of torture she had to endure because of it. All the voices...everything. She said that I was worth it." Spencer's face then fell. "But my Dad doesn't feel the same way. He wanted a normal kid. Good at sports." Spencer gestured down himself. "Need I say more?" The group snorted. 

"So he can't just be happy with the fact that he got a young genius, huh?" Derek asked.

"If he was, I wouldn't be here," Spencer said. At the looks of confusion, he explained, "My Dad is the one who won't let me skip grades. At least, not as many as I should have. He finally let me skip some awhile back, but he wouldn't budge on any others. Didn't want me to be a freak." Spencer eyed the ground. "Didn't want his son to be a freak." 

"Spence, you're not a freak," Jennifer said. 

"Yes I am," Spencer disagreed, self-deprecation in his voice. "I'm...I'm okay with that. I've grown used to it, but he wouldn't let me skip any more grades. I could have graduated at twelve years old," he said, his voice rose in distressed volume. "Do you know how amazing that sounds? I would have been out of high school by twelve." He looked around at everyone. "Do you guys know what it's like being the youngest kid in a high school? Younger and smaller than any freshman? I'd skipped two grades and hadn't even hit puberty yet." Spencer rubbed at his sleeve, his face hot with heat. "I was an easy target. I might as well have had HIT ME tattooed on my forehead." 

"Who on earth hurts a twelve year old?" Penelope asked in horror. "It's inhumane." 

Spencer shrugged as memories came back to haunt him. "It was awful," he confessed. "I couldn't even walk down the hallway without something happening, I didn't eat lunch in the cafeteria, I hid most of the time. If I spoke in class it just made people angrier at me. I had no friends. No one. Sometimes I didn't even want to get out of bed in the morning." 

"Spence," Jennifer said softly, sympathetically. Her face a mask of pain that she felt for him. 

"The worst part is I never learned." Spencer sniffed. "They'd play jokes on me. Make me think I had friends, but it was always a joke. But I never learned. I just...I just wanted everyone to like me." He hung his head in shame. "One time I got this note from a girl," he said softly, his cheeks tinted pink. "She said she had a crush on me and wanted to see me. I was only twelve, and stupid. I went to where she asked, and she made me wear a blindfold..."

"I don't know if I like where this is going..." David said warily. 

"She, uh..." Spencer stuttered, his cheeks grew hotter. "She took my shirt off-."

"You were twelve!" Penelope cried out in dismay. 

"Then I heard laughter." His cheeks heated so bad that they felt burned. He couldn't meet the eye of any of his friends, he was so ashamed by his own stupidity, and it wasn't even his worst bullying story. "The whole senior class was there," he choked out. "It was all just a prank." 

"Oh, Spencer," Penelope crooned. The rest of the group just stared at him in horror, all of their eyes reflected the same amount of dismay held in Penelope's eyes. "Oh sweetie." 

"They're horrible," Emily snapped angrily. "No one should ever do that to anyone. Especially not to a kid." 

"It was my fault," Spencer said, voice shaky. "I...I actually believed she liked me." 

"Spence," Jennifer begun. "The fact that someone likes you should not EVER. and I mean EVER, be taken as a prank. The fact that you'd have to grow to anticipate that is disgusting." 

"It wasn't the first time they'd done it," Spencer continued on. "They tricked me with the...girl...thing a lot." Spencer once again hung his head as shame tinted his cheeks. "I just wanted a friend." 

"Well, now you've got six of them," David told him forcefully, and fought to try to catch Spencer's eye. "You got me, kid?"

Spencer smiled slightly and nodded. "I got you." His smile then turned into a frown. "I...my Dad decided after things got...bad," he said the word cryptically, and knew everyone assumed that it had something to do with his Mother. "After my Mom no longer had a say in anything, my Dad sent me off. I think the only reason my Dad ever stuck around in the first place was because he didn't want to look bad. When I was ten years old he took off for over two months, and he never told us where he went. He only left me a note saying he'd be back. He was almost never home, he just left me to take care of my Mom." 

"What a jackass," Emily said. At Spencer's look, she held her hands up. "No offense?" 

"None taken." Spencer couldn't stop himself from smiling. "He kind of is." Spencer's face then once again fell. "So he sent me here, and he hasn't called me in two months. Not even on my birthday." He looked at the group shyly. "You guys actually gave me one of my first birthday parties." Penelope gasped. "It meant a lot." 

"You have plenty more to come," Penelope told him firmly, her voice left no room for argument. "I don't care that we're graduating, I don't care we all may go to separate colleges, I don't care how much danger we're in now, we're all going to make it through this, and we're NEVER going to lose contact with each other." She looked around at the group, tears dribbled down her cheeks. "I can't lose you guys." 

"You never will, Penelope," Derek assured her, one arm tossed around her. "You never will."

"I want you all to promise me," she demanded. "I want you all to promise that no matter what happens, we're never going to lose contact with each other." 

"I promise," Derek said immediately after. 

"I promise," Emily agreed. 

"I lost you guys once," Jennifer said. "Not doing it again. I promise." 

"I promise." Next was Aaron.

"I promise." Then David.

"I promise." Then there was Spencer. 

"Good," Penelope stated, as another loan tear trickled down her cheek. Derek wiped the tear away for her, and smiled at her sweetly. 

"Well," Emily sighed. "This was more emotional than what I expected."

Derek chuckled. "No kidding."

"We should probably discuss the stuff happening at school now," Emily advised. "While we have the opportunity." 

"Emily's right," Aaron agreed, his analytical eyes scanned his friends. "If everyone is okay?" 

Everyone nodded their head and muttered "we're fine.” But then Penelope looked as though a light bulb had turned on over her head, and turned to look at Spencer.

"Also, Spencer, don't you worry your pretty little head about Thanksgiving. If you're Pops decides to be the gum on the bottom of a tacky old shoe, then you're getting a one way ticket to Garciaville." 

Spencer's eyes widened. "I wouldn't make you do that, really! I'll be fine-."

"One. Way. Ticket, and I'm never returning you," she warned. She then looked around the rest of the group. "Everyone here is welcome, as well." 

"I'm sure your parents will love you for extending that invitation," David said sarcastically. 

Penelope waved her hand to dismiss him. 

"Too bad we can't just all be eighteen and do Thanksgiving our own way," Emily said sadly. Then her face brightened up. "But we totally should, anyway."

Everyone looked at her curiously, but Aaron just held a hand up to still any questions, although he wore a grin on his face. "Please, let's discuss the important stuff, holiday plans can wait." 

They all nodded in agreement, and set forth to talk about what was currently happening. Spencer spoke avidly about his concerns. Such as the fact that he didn't feel like Ella's personality matched one of the killer, and he wanted Penelope to dive even deeper into her medical history to find out everything possible about her. He said he needed to know everything.

~.~.~.~.~.

All of them winced at the fact that they weren't going to get much sleep before the alarm went off, and slowly exited from the fort. They'd agreed they couldn't use it every night, so had agreed to once a week, but on Saturdays, so they at least wouldn't have to deal with school the next day. 

It had been an intense night, to say the least. They all looked at each other differently...but not in a bad way. Not really. 

Before Spencer could ponder deeper on it, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder before he could leave the fort. Only he and Derek remained, and even in the pitch black of the night Spencer could make out the outline of intensity that Derek wore. He cocked his head to the side in curiosity. 

"Spencer," Derek begun softly. "You said said ‘feels’ and “has." 

Spencer frowned deeply, and his eyes reflected how stumped he was by the statement. "Pardon?" 

"When you spoke about your Mom," Derek reminded him, and Spencer's eyes widened. "You used present tense twice. You said she has schizophrenia, not had, and you said she feels proud of you, not felt." Derek continued to stare at him. "She's not dead, is she?" 

Spencer stuttered, the breath caught in his throat, he felt lightheaded. The world seemed to swim around him. The blackness of the night made everything run together, and the chill sent an icicle straight into his heart. 

"Are you two coming?" Aaron whispered. 

"Yeah," Derek said, and slowly released Spencer's shoulders, but didn't stop staring as he walked away. "Coming."


	16. Chapter 16

Spencer had expected a lot of things after that night they all had shared in the fort. First and foremost, in the light of day, once the moment had long since faded, he'd expected it to be ridiculously awkward. They had all sat in a little fort, in the middle of the woods, and poured their hearts out to each other. It was like something out of a campy teen movie. 

But, as hours turned to days, and days turned to weeks, Spencer realized that the group really didn't seem to experience much of a setback from that night. Not only that, but in the two appearances in the fort that had followed, they'd all talked more. Not just about any developments, but about their lives in general. No secrets had really been revealed, not large ones, anyway, it was just casual talk that had never happened before.

There was one thing that was different, which was the the fact that Derek knew some semblance of the truth. Derek was almost...watchful of him. More than usual. Spencer would sometimes be drawn more into himself, and he'd feel the heat of a gaze hit the back of his neck, he'd then turn to see Derek staring at him. The gaze wasn't exactly judgemental, it was more filled with concern. Maybe even a dash of confusion thrown in to stir the pot even more so. 

Other than the slight discomfort Spencer had begun to feel around him, other things had certainly happened. Such as Ella's deteriorating mental state. He had a harder, and harder, time believing that it was actually her who had done any of it as time ticked on.

As far as getting closer to Owen went, it was a slow go at it. The boy didn't seem all that interested in pursuing a one-on-one friendship, and Spencer wasn't exactly the best at appealing to certain people at certain times. All-in-all, it wasn't a success. Other than the fact the boy seemed to be kinder to Spencer, probably assuming Spencer was simply lonely and in search for a closer friendship. But, if pity would get Spencer closer to him, as much as he resented it, he was willing to do it. 

Erin Strauss was starting to deeply concern them. They felt as though they were being lulled into a false sense of security, considering soccer games had passed without incident...other than the incident of them winning, of course. David, and Jennifer, both bragged, and taunted, Derek about it, while he just used his hand to symbolize flapping lips. He'd had another football game, and another upcoming one, and they'd once again lost. Though, Erin Strauss concerned them more than the horrible losing streak they were upholding. She looked around the dining hall as though she was doing head counts, and one morning she walked in like she'd seen a ghost from the past. 

"What is going on with her?" Jennifer whispered. Erin's head was in her hands, and her hands looked as though they were shaking. "I have never seen her like this." 

"Her posture never breaks," David said. "She NEVER looks defeated. Maybe in her face, maybe in her eyes, but not in her posture, man." David looked at her. "They broke her." 

"Speaking of broken," Spencer said sadly, and cast his vision over to Ella. She looked like a wreck, while Owen just continued to stare at her in concern. She'd gone on a hunger strike of some sort, she refused to eat any of the food that the dining hall had given her, even though Erin had threatened consequences, such as a visit to the hospital, if Ella didn't shape up. It didn't look like she was bending to the woman's will. She'd muttered something about how the food was going to kill them. 

"Sorry, guys, I really am, but I'm not getting the evil mastermind vibe from her," Penelope said, her face showed similar sympathy to Spencer's. 

"Looks can be deceiving," Aaron reminded her. "She's delusional, and judging by her refusal for food she's determined." He gestured over to how she had her arms crossed over her chest, and she stared into the back of Erin's head with determination. "You still haven't been able to get anything out of Owen?" 

Spencer sighed sadly. "I keep trying. In case you guys have forgotten I'm not really an expert in making friends."

"Just try to appeal to his interests," Derek recommended. 

"I tried!" Spencer said. "I talked about his favorite subjects, teachers, he just looks at me with pity." 

"Then become his charity project," Aaron suggested cooly. Spencer gaped at him. It was what he'd thought, but hearing Aaron say it had just felt insulting. "Anything to get your foot in the door."

"You don't usually share secrets with a charity case," David argued. Spencer then turned to gape at him, and he held his hands up. "Don't get mad at me! I've shared secrets with you, you're not my charity case." 

"David has got a point," Derek agreed, mouth full, and hand raised to cover it for some semblance of manners. "I had this kid, Billy, following me around all last year wanting to know how I became so good at football. He was a total nerd who might as well have shoved himself into a locker." Spencer gave him a pointed look, and Derek rolled his eyes. "I never did, and I made sure no one else did, either. He was just a kid searching for an idol. I defended him, and I pitied him, but that didn't make us friends." 

"That kid was annoying as all hell," David recalled, one hand to rub his forehead. "Whatever happened to him?" 

"Don't know." Derek shrugged. "Haven't heard much about him this year." 

"Was a football nut," David informed Spencer, who merely observed the conversation, savoring the moment that Derek wasn't eyeing him as though he were a ticking time bomb. "Sports nut, really. He'd follow Derek around the entire school and ramble on and on. He was like a less likeable you." 

"Yeah, well, to Owen I'm a much less likeable Billy," Spencer replied. "This whole thing just feels degrading." No more degrading than getting your head shoved into a toilet, but still, it was a matter of principle. 

"Look, kid, you just have to make him see you on his level," Derek explained. "You can't keep doing the puppy thing, you have to learn to appeal to him in some way." 

Spencer raised a brow. "Appeal to him?" He repeated. 

"Study him like you study one of your books, okay? Just...a little less intense. Pick up on things, and use them to try to form a bond with him," Derek said. 

Spencer frowned a little. Lips curved down slightly, and eyebrows drawn together. "That kind of sounds like emotional manipulation." 

Derek rolled his eyes. "Kid, you're trying to make a friend, not give someone stockholm syndrome. It's morally sound." 

Spencer looked at him, baffled. "Why on earth would it be stockholm syndrome?" Derek groaned. "Stockholm syndrome, also known as capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy, and sympathy, including having positive feelings towards their captors, in some instances they’ll even defend them, or grow to possibly see themselves within them. The FBI's Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly 8% of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome." 

Derek cradled his head in his palms, while the rest of the table snickered, and tried to withhold laughter. "Spencer, I was just trying to explain that what you're doing isn't emotional manipulation."

"You should really work on your comparisons," Spencer said blankly. A small grin tugged its way to his face. "They suck." 

Derek raised his head and glared at him sharply. "I liked you better when you weren't trying to be funny." 

Spencer just continued to smile. "Sure you did." 

"See?" Penelope said, and gestured between them, Derek and Spencer just turned their heads to look at her. Penelope looked around the table in excitement. "He can banter! He can be funny! So thus, I conclude, he can make friends." 

"Penelope, I regret to inform you, that my success rate in the art of making friends is so unimpressive that it falls into the category of just being plain sad," Spencer informed her. 

"Well, hey." David stuck his hand out in gesture. "Statistics change all the time, right? So the statistic probability of Spencer Reid making friends might have shot up since his appearance in boarding school," he suggested. The rest of the table, sans Spencer, looked at him as though he'd grown a second head. "Look." He gestured around the table. "It looks to me as though your success rate has rapidly improved; which with such developments, might have improved your confidence levels, and boosted your conversational skills, thus making it more probable for you to make friends than before." 

The whole table continued to gape at him, and Derek just muttered, "Dude." 

Spencer pondered over David's remarks, before he nodded his head slowly. "That makes sense." 

The whole group looked between David and Spencer in shock, while David just leaned back in his chair with a look of satisfaction. 

"Okay," Penelope drawled out. "Back to non-weird things." She looked at Spencer. "Has your Dad called, Spencer?" 

Spencer froze, and his face drooped, as did his posture. "No," he said sadly. He didn't have the energy to fake like he didn't care. 

"Your Dad is an ass," Emily said bluntly. Spencer looked at her with surprise, even though Emily had voiced some of her opinions on her Father since that night they spent in the fort. She didn't think very highly of him, and Spencer attempted not to find it enjoyable. 

"Just call and say if he doesn't care enough to call you then you're going home with a beautiful blonde for the holidays," Penelope said, and gestured to herself for emphasis. 

"After that, make sure to include the fact that I'm jealous," Derek added. Penelope winked at him.

"Oh, my dear sweet treat, I would love to bring you home to Mother and Father, come home with me, too," Penelope suggested.

"Dude, run!" David blurted. Derek raised both eyebrows, and looked at him in surprise, David just gave him a sly grin of a jokester. "Sorry, man, knee-jerk reaction for when a girl asks to bring you home to her parents." 

"Ignoring David, as usual," Derek said, and David stuck his tongue out at him. "I don't know, dollface. I doubt I'd be missed, but I don't want to intrude on anything." 

"If I'm going, you're going," Spencer muttered as he forced some hashbrown into his mouth. He looked down in surprise at the taste, Ella was missing out. Bad day for a hunger strike. 

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Is that an order, doctor?" 

"If you know what's good for your health." Spencer nodded. Derek raised both eyebrows at that, then let out a small little laugh in huff of breath.

"Someone is cranky this morning," he said. 

"Of course he's cranky," Penelope said, and looked at Spencer with sympathy. "His Dad still hasn't called him and he's a lost, lonely little lamb." 

Spencer groaned, and Derek just continued to chuckle beside him. "I more thought it was because he was up all night, hiding under the blankets reading with a flashlight," Derek said, Spencer shot him a nasty glare. 

"I was reading up on poisonings," Spencer defended himself, meanwhile Emily clucked her tongue and wagged her finger at him. "I was!" 

"Oh, I believe it," Penelope said. "I also believe you're a young little boy who needs his sleep. Look at these." She reached across the table to swipe underneath Spencer's eyes, and he pulled away upon the contact. "Much too dark, much too baggy, much too not sixteen." 

"I hope you washed your hands," Spencer muttered. He fought insane amounts of temptation to run off towards the nearest bathroom. He had grown more used to people touching him, in a non-violent manner, since attending boarding school. 

"These mitts, m'dear?" Penelope wiggled her fingers in the air. "These mitts are germ-free."

"Highly doubtful," Spencer said logically. "If-."

"Spencer," Aaron halted him, he had both hands placed to his temples. "Her hands are clean enough." 

"In your opinion, maybe," Spencer replied. 

"Anyway, as far as Thanksgiving plans go, I might have a really good idea," Emily whispered. The group looked at her curiously, and a grin split on her face. "I have this friend, they owe me a favor."

"I thought you didn't have friends," Derek replied to her. He smiled a little when Emily glared at him.

"Fine, I know a person who owes me a favor. Anyway, that person who owes me a favor ALSO happens to own this great beach house in Maine. Yes, David, I see that look, and I'm aware it's Fall, but it's still gorgeous, and it's going to be empty for Thanksgiving break." An even bigger grin split on Emily's face. "Or, well, it was." 

"You're suggesting we all go to Maine for Thanksgiving break?" David inquired. "How on earth are we going to manage that?"

"Easy. We tell our parents we have a friend in Maine," Emily explained. At the group's stares of disbelief, she continued on, "We all have money. All we have to do is travel there, and spend break there. All of our parents will give us money for it, and we all have our own credit cards." 

"You want to deceive our parents, ditch our families on Thanksgiving, and spend it in the house of someone that most of us don't know?" David asked, face serious. Emily stared at him with one raised brow. "I'm in." At the looks the rest of the table gave him he just threw his hands up. "Have any of you met my family?!" Derek snorted. 

"Count me in. While I'm sure I'll be sincerely missed," Derek said the latter part sarcastically. "I'm sure they'll part with me for break." He grinned. "Besides, I'm not leaving Emily with just David." 

"I won't leave Emily with just the two of you," Aaron cut in, and cast looks to both David and Derek, Emily smiled at him in relief. "I'll tag along." 

"One girl in a house with three boys doesn't quite seem fair," Jennifer said, a soft smile on her face, but worry in her eyes as she messed with her ponytail. "I just might need to do some damage control with my parents; I feel guilty leaving them for the holiday," Jennifer said the last part softly. 

"Same here," Penelope agreed. "I just don't know what I'm going to say." 

"Tell them it's your last year in boarding school and you want to spend it with your friends," Aaron suggested. 

"That's perfect," Emily agreed. "I mean, we have all our lives to spend with our parents, right now it's just...it's just us."

"I can see if I can do it," Spencer said softly, he played with his food, tried to play a game of making the hashbrown run away from the yolk before the gooey yellow drowned it, and its people. "Or I could always just come, my Dad wouldn't notice."

"Come on, kid," Derek said, and clasped him on the back. "I'm sure he's not that far gone."

Spencer felt a pang of guilt. He had no right to complain about parental struggles with Derek in his...situation; but, he felt as though, that if he were to stop, that Derek would take that as pity, and probably resent him for it. The boys were hyper-aware of each other at that point, as well, so he was pretty sure it wouldn't be something that Derek would miss. 

"He hasn't called once since I've been here," Spencer reminded Derek sadly as he let out a small groan when the yolk caught on to the small unsuspecting victim hash. 

"Sometimes parents just forget, Spence," Jennifer said soothingly. "They get busy. Your Dad is a successful lawyer." 

"I don't want to complain," Spencer said awkwardly as he glanced around the table. After all everyone had revealed, the fact that they were even concerned about him seemed to border on ridiculous. "I just think I can easily slip away if that's what everyone wants to do." 

"Come on," Emily said to the slight looks of hesitation. "With everything happening, don't we deserve a little vacation?"

"What would we do?" David asked. "Order take-out?"

Penelope looked as him as though he'd suggested murder, one hand held to her chest as though she was about to have a heart attack, expression an over-dramatized scandal. Red lips parted in the middle as her eyes narrowed in on him to show her horror. "Nonsense!" She finally declared, and Derek huffed out a laugh. "If we're doing this? We're doing this right. We're all pitching in to cook ourselves a lovely Thanksgiving dinner-David, don't you give me that look. Time to let the cat out of the bag, I know you can cook." 

"You can cook?" Derek asked David in surprise. David glared at Penelope.

"The italian stallion is highly capable," Penelope announced. She eyed David. "No pouting." 

"I can cook a little," Spencer said hesitantly. He used to cook for his Mother when his Father would be away...which was all the time. "Simple things. I can...uh..."

"Peel and boil potatoes?" Penelope suggested. Spencer nodded. "Carrots?" He nodded once more. "Butternut squash?" Once again. "Good! You'll be of great use, kitten!"

"Kitten?" Spencer asked Derek. Derek simply shrugged his shoulders, his mouth full. "If she starts calling me anything with the word 'thunder' in it, I'm out." After that was spoken, Derek just about choked on his food. 

"So...we're all in?" Emily asked with a sly smile, but the unmistakable excitement was clearly seen in her eyes. 

"I'm in," David said. 

"Me too," Derek said.

"Count me in," Aaron agreed.

"Same." Spencer nodded. 

"So long as we get some real food," Penelope demanded. 

"Can't be the odd one out," Jennifer said.

"Alright." Emily clapped her hands together and rubbed them. "It's settled, then! Good thing, too. Since I already called in the favor." At the looks she received, she said, "Hey! If you all weren't going to come I could have just hung out alone." 

"Sure you would have," Jennifer said dryly with a wink.

~.~.~.~.~.~. 

Spencer sat in Liam's room to study, and his eyes kept drifting to Ella, who sat on the ground, she looked at her notes with complete disinterest. "Want me to look those over?" He offered. 

Ella blinked, and turned her head to look at him, underneath her eyes were dark blue streaks, and her lips were chapped. "Oh," the word slipped through her lips like a gust of air. "Uh. Yeah. Sure. Thanks." She hesitantly handed her notebook over and gave Spencer a thin lipped smile. Her eyes darted madly around the room, though, as if she suspected someone to loom over her. 

Amelia and Scarlett both eyed each other, they looked thoroughly creeped out. They had been acting that way around Ella often. 

"Would you please stop staring at me," she snapped aggressively, and spun her head to look at Amelia, who froze where she sat. It was almost like she had become afraid of Ella. Spencer had heard her whisper to Scarlett that Ella's eyes were "evil.” "I'm so sick of everyone everywhere staring at me!" 

"Sweetie," Owen said softly, soothingly, both hands reached up to grip at Ella's tense shoulders. "No one is staring at you."

"I used to stare, but you never saw!" Ella continued to shout, and Amelia backed up slightly, as though Ella had transported directly in front of her. "Now you stare and I can never see!" 

"Chill out," Sawyer told her, one hand still stuck in his bag of cheetos as he looked at Ella as though she had sprouted another head. "You're no more interesting to look at now than you were before," he said, almost mockingly. 

"Would you stop chewing so loud?!" Ella yelled at him, and he threw his hands out of his bag and into the air, he didn't even have any food in his mouth.

"Ella," Liam said calmly, and Spencer looked up at him. "If you're going to cause problems, I'm going to have to request that you leave." 

"Liam!" Owen shouted in horror at the completely blank, unapologetic face of Liam Lockwood. The boy just ignored Owen's shout, and stared down Ella, almost as though he was doing it in a way to mock her.

"Fine!" She declared at Liam, and stood up. "Too many eyes in here," she muttered as she stormed out. The door slammed shut behind her, and Owen seemed frozen where he sat. He continued to stare at Liam in betrayal, but the boy had already gone back to reading his textbook. Scarlett seemed undeniably pleased by the turn of events. 

After moments of silence, Owen finally seemed to come back to himself. "Liam!" He bellowed, and the room flinched at the booming intensity of his voice. Even Liam. "What the hell was that?!" Owen stood up, and Spencer just clutched Ella's notebook in his hands. 

"We're studying," Liam said calmly, he met Owen's eye unblinking. "If you can't control her, then she can't be here."

"Control her?!" Owen asked. "She's a human being, not a dog!" 

"She's insane," Sawyer announced, and everyone then turned their eyes to him, some in shock. "What?! No one else is willing to say it. The girl is a nutjob. She's muttering about things that aren't there." 

"She's not insane," Owen seethed, and slowly approached Sawyer.

Dozens of options floated through Spencer's mind. On one hand, if he backed Owen, he might lose some of Liam's favor, on the other hand, he could gain favor in Owen's. Owen who was feeling betrayed and was probably more likely to have loose lips. 

"She's not insane," Spencer agreed with him, and suddenly all eyes were on him. He swallowed thickly, his throat seemed as though it had suddenly closed up, but he knew he had to go on. "She's tired."

"She's crazy!" Scarlett agreed with Sawyer, and Spencer was surprised at how unnaturally quiet Amelia was. Of course, she probably didn't want to mess things up with the apple of her eye.

"Don't say that," Spencer said before Owen could get the chance. "Just because someone is different doesn't mean they're crazy. Even if she was suffering from an illness, harassing someone is the least successful way to help anyone with anything."

"If she's incapable of caring for herself then she doesn't deserve to have other people caring for her," Scarlett replied cooly. Her eyes were so cold that, if they had the power, Spencer would have been frozen solid. 

The comment itself sent a knife it's Spencer's heart, and he gritted his teeth in frustration. "That's such a selfish view of the world," he snapped before he could control himself. He saw Scarlett's eyes widen. "If someone can't care for themselves, then you help them. It's not someone's choice. Just because you're perfectly healthy, and have never needed to want for anything, doesn't mean the whole world is as blessed, and they shouldn't have to suffer any further because of your ignorance." 

Scarlett looked at him as though she had never been so insulted in her entire life, and perhaps she hadn't ever been. Spencer knew he'd messed up, that he'd quite possibly ruined everything, but he was far too angry to care.

"He's right," Owen agreed, and Spencer looked up at him in surprise. He thought he'd crossed a line. 

"If either of you continue to attack my girlfriend, then I'll have to ask you both to leave," Liam warned them, and Amelia cast a desperate look at Scarlett, who was too furious to return it. 

"Oh, but it's fine for you all to attack mine?" Owen asked in anger. 

"Leave," Liam said the word, smoothly, easily, it fell from his lips with no remorse. Owen's eyes narrowed at him, his jaw set.

"Fine," he said. He looked down at Spencer. "Wanna come?" 

All eyes were on Spencer, and it was time to make his choice. Go with his new mission, and hope it all worked out, or stay and try to do damage control. He had to make it quickly. Split second. All the probabilities of failure ran through his head at lightning speed, no time to sort through them all to find the best option. He had to act fast. On instinct.

"Alright," he agreed and stood up. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Ella probably went back to her own room," Owen said sadly. After being unable to find her, they'd walked out onto the grounds. He kicked around at the grass. "I can't believe I didn't do more for her when she was actually there."

"At least you did it," Spencer said comfortingly. "It's better than doing nothing." The air was much too low in temperature, and he tried not to let his teeth chatter as his body shook. 

"I'm impressed you did," Owen replied honestly. He looked Spencer up and down, almost as though he was sizing him up. "No one else ever does." 

"I like Ella." Spencer watched as the branches crackled and shook, listened as their feet crushed leaves. "She's my friend." 

"She's a great girl," Owen told him instantly after Spencer's remark. He kicked at the ground harder as they walked, so a hunk of dirt actually got shot up from the force of his shoe. "She's got so much to her, but they all refuse to see it." He shook his head. "Never thought it'd be this much of a problem, but lately they've been so cruel."

Spencer had so many things he wanted to say, such as the fact that it hadn't just been lately, but he had to stay on friendly terms with Owen. Had to have him see him as confidant, an equal. "That's their loss. I've gotten to know her, I really like her. She's much smarter than people give her credit for."

"She's brilliant," Owen declared firmly. "Stunning and brilliant. Funny, too, once you're alone with her and give her a chance." 

"People often focus too much on what they don't like about a person," Spencer mused wisely. His face turned up to the weak glow of the sun. "Sometimes they forget to even give them a chance." 

"It's unfair," Owen said. "They all judge everyone so easily. This girl...she's amazing. They don't even give her a chance." 

"It's good, though, that you love her so much." 

"Of course I love her! I mean...I'd do anything for her." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Anything, huh?" David snorted. He sat in front of Spencer's bed, toying around with a rubber band. Spencer had gone up for the remainder of free-time. Owen had ended up retreating to his room. "True teenage love at its finest." 

"He's devoted to her," Emily said. She shook her head. "He won't see any flaws." 

"Not to mention the fact he's defensive," Derek sighed, and tapped his fingers on his mattress. "Kid, I don't want to say you made the wrong choice, but..." 

"He did what he was supposed to do," Aaron disagreed instantly, before Spencer had a chance to either droop, or get his back up, he hadn't quite decided which action to take yet. "He had to make a split second decision. Friends fight in high school all the time, it's not like it can't be repaired." 

"Either way, he's mad at Liam," Jennifer said. Spencer was surprised at the fact she'd popped up into the room after soccer practice. "Trust me, when you're mad at a friend, the secrets come tumbling out." 

"Remind me not to piss you off," Emily replied with side eye glance at Jennifer. Jennifer's eyes widened. 

"I didn't mean me!!!"

"That's not important," Aaron said dismissively, but then he paused and looked at Jennifer suspiciously. "That's kind of not important..."

"I never said I've done it!" Jennifer continued on.

"Jennifer does have a point," David agreed, one finger pointed in Jennifer's direction. "You get someone pissed off enough? Secrets come pouring out." 

"So we'll get stuff on Liam," Emily said with exasperation and closed her eyes. "But we won't get anything on Ella." 

"Being close to Owen means being close to Ella," Spencer replied, as he attempted to defend his own decision in his mind. He'd made the best choice...hadn't he? "I can gather intel on both."

"Whatever is done is done," Aaron just said simply. "We'll work with what we've got." 

"Thanksgiving break could end up doing more harm than good," Emily said thoughtfully. She brushed a dark strand of hair out of her face, her expression thoughtful. "It could damage any headway we've made." 

"If people get close enough they text," Derek pointed out, and gestured to Spencer. "He's got an actual cell phone now."

"My last phone was an actual cell phone," Spencer muttered out his reply ruefully. It had been his first, and only, cell phone, it was well made. He didn't need some flashy thing with no buttons. "At least it had buttons."

"Buttons are for the weak," Penelope boasted. 

"No, they're for people who actually care about spelling. Your phone keeps changing my words," Spencer said with dismay, and most of the room bit their lips to withhold their laughter. 

"That's autocorrect, Spence," Jennifer informed him as she tried to fight back her smile. "I'll show you how to turn it off later." 

"Speaking of phones." David eyed him, and Spencer scooted back on his bed awkwardly. He hated all the intense staring the group seemed to favor. "You going to give your Dad a ring tonight?" 

"Are you going to give your parents one?" Spencer shot back.

"As a matter of fact, I am," David replied proudly, and Spencer blinked, damn. "Going to do the whole not going home for break lie, and listen to my Mom chew me out." 

"I'll give home," Derek said the latter word with distaste, and the room eyed him in momentary sympathy, which he seemed to refute. "A ring tonight. Probably leave a message, easier to talk to a machine."

"My Mom would kill me if I left something like that on an answering machine," Penelope replied, her bottom lip worried between her teeth. "I will just have to gather up that fabulous confidence I have hidden inside of me, and tell her that I will not be returning home for the holidays. I can totally do that. Absolutely. No problem." Penelope looked around the room anxiously. "She's going to kill me." 

"She won't kill you," Jennifer dismissed, and then raised her brows. "My Mom will, though." 

"My family isn't big on holidays," Aaron said quietly, almost so much so that you could have missed it. "I don't think they'll be bothered." 

"Same here," Spencer replied. "I've never actually celebrated Thanksgiving." He frowned at the looks he received. "What?" 

"You've never celebrated Thanksgiving?" Derek asked him. 

Spencer shrugged. "My Dad was never home and my Mom was..." He felt the heat of Derek's gaze intensify, and he fought to ignore it. "My Mom was sick a lot," he settled on. "I wasn't going to make a whole turkey for just myself." 

"No relatives?" Emily asked. 

"None that visited all that much," Spencer fought to keep the bitterness out of his voice as he spoke. He had Aunts, Uncles, but none that wanted to visit too often. His Mother's siblings hated to see her so ill, and his Father's brother had died when Spencer was young. 

"My Dad had a sister," Spencer was surprised to hear Derek speak. "But they didn't give her the time of day when it came to taking us in." 

"The system is awful," Penelope said sadly. "Just horrible."

"Don't get yourself worked up over it, babygirl," Derek told her softly, his jaw still stuff, as was the rest of his form. "It is what it is. When I'm eighteen soon enough? None of it will matter anymore." 

"What'll you do?" David asked, legs criss-crossed. "When you're eighteen, that is." 

Derek shrugged. "Hopefully get a football scholarship to a college in Chicago. Visit my Mama. See my sisters." 

"Sad that has got to be a dream," Emily muttered, almost angry, though not at Derek, nor anyone else in the room. 

"Is what it is. Most adoptive families are great, mine just isn't. It's the way things work...and sadly, that's not always in my favor," Derek said frankly. 

Spencer looked away, unsure exactly how to reply to what Derek was saying. He wasn't the best at comforting people. Except his Mother, he could sometimes comfort his Mother, but he practically studied in it. Studied her movements, her reactions, he grew up with her, knew what made her feel better. Derek? Derek was an enigma. Someone who probably didn't want any comfort, anyway. Probably hated the type of attention. He was private, and Spencer knew his backstory still floated around with untold stories. The whole story of Derek Morgan would probably never be revealed, but enough was unlocked, and that meant a large sum in itself. 

"Spencer," Aaron's voice broke Spencer out of his thoughts, and he hummed, moved his head slightly to show he was listening. "Just continue to get close to Owen. Get whatever information you can. Even small stuff."

Spencer nodded his understanding. Apparently Aaron was swiftly turning the topic away from Derek's personal life, which Spencer understood. The little information was a lot more than what they were used to getting, and no one wanted to push him. 

The more you try to push someone towards something, the more they pull away. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.

It was after dinner. Almost everyone was in the TV room, or munching on some ice cream, and Spencer pulled out his cell phone. He glanced down at the compact little device, and tried to work up his nerve. The smooth glass screen was black, the phone not yet turned on, and when he finally pressed his finger down on the cool silver button that powered it up, he almost jumped back in fear as the screen came alight. 

He sucked in a deep breath, shut his eyes, and exhaled. He shouldn't be filled with so much fear. It was just his Father. 

He touched the smooth screen and brought up the phone keypad. He tried to keep his breathing even to avoid a panic attack. It wasn't the prospect of lying, it was the idea of speaking to his Father in general. If his Father had wanted to talk to him, he would have called him. Not that Spencer was much more eager to talk to the man, but it would have felt nice to feel wanted...or missed...or cared for, or anything really. 

He pressed his Father's cell phone number into the screen. He knew he had a better chance of reaching his Father on that than on the home phone. No one ever answered the home phone, all of his Father’s business was done over his cell.

The answer was almost instant. "William Reid," the voice announced primly.

"Hey, Dad," Spencer replied, his voice cracked slightly. "It's Spencer." 

"Spencer!" His Father said with surprise, and Spencer wondered if he regretted answering. "Wow! It's, uh, it's been awhile!" 

"Yeah," Spencer said softly, he tried not to sound resentful. "Well over two months. Nearing three, actually." 

His Father paused, and Spencer heard him release a sigh into the phone. He could imagine his Father as he rubbed his forehead with his free hand, as he tried to think up some excuse, or something to say. "Spencer, I'm sorry." It hadn't been what Spencer had expected. "I've been swamped with work. You know how busy my job is." 

"Yeah," Spencer replied. "I know." There was another long pause. 

"So, how is school?" William asked, probably hopeful at the prospect of changing the subject, of quickly wrapping up the phone call. 

"Good," Spencer tried to sound convincing. Wasn't like kids were getting murdered or anything. "That's...um...actually what I was calling about."

"Oh?" 

"Yes. Thanksgiving break is coming up soon," Spencer reminded him, fully convinced his Father had completely forgotten.

"Oh! Of course! How could I forget?" He had been right. "Look, Spencer, I've been so busy. Everyone is breaking the law now, and everyone needs a lawyer. I can try to work something out-."

"Dad, it's fine," Spencer cut his Father off, unable to listen to the excuse of why he would have been spending Thanksgiving alone. "I actually...well...I've made some friends since I've come here." He’d tried to keep the pride out of his voice, but some hd leaked through. Naturally it had, he’d never been able to make friends before, so the fact that his luck changed slightly, at least in that sense, was something he couldn’t help but be proud of. 

"Really?" His Father sounded stunned. "That's great, Spencer!" Spencer couldn't help but beam. "I'm so glad about that!" 

"So am I," Spencer replied softly. "I've made quite a few, actually. They're all great, and um, I think they actually like me," Spencer tried not to sound pathetic with that last bit. "That's actually why I'm calling. One of my friends lives in Maine." 

"Great place to live," his Father responded. "My family used to vacation there for summer. Took your Mom there a few times," he mentioned Diana with almost hesitation, and Spencer tried not to flinch at it. They hadn't spoken of his Mother, not in a while. She was a sore subject.

"Yeah," Spencer said the word softly, sadly. "Well, his family offered for me to spend Thanksgiving with them! All I'd need is some money for basic things, you know?" 

"You have your own bank account," William reminded him, almost pleasantly. "I'll add some extra money to it. Are you sure his family is fine with you spending the holidays there? How old is this boy?"

"Seventeen," Spencer responded instantly, he’d already planned out the entire lie. "Turning eighteen in the summer. His family is absolutely fine with it. He's already asked." 

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to return home?" His Father asked the question almost with strain. Spencer knew, deep down, his Father was relieved that Spencer wouldn't be returning for the holidays. "I mean, you've been away for awhile."

"Well, you know, this is my senior year of high school," Spencer reminded him, he used what Emily, and Aaron, had told them to earlier in the day. "I just want to spend it with friends. I haven't really had them before." 

His Father paused. "You know, Spencer? I think that's great," he finally replied, and Spencer had to fight not to let out a sigh of relief. "I was hoping you'd get more socialization at this school." Spencer rolled his eyes, of course, that was obviously his Father's main concern. Right. "Making friends, ditching family holidays to spend time with them, it's a teenage rite of passage. Just have a good time and stay safe, alright?" 

"Of course," Spencer assured him. He should have felt a strong sense of victory, but instead he just felt sad, his throat felt like there was a huge lump in it that he had to struggle to swallow around. "You know me." He didn't. "I'll be safe." He wasn't. 

"Of course you will be," William said confidently. "You're very mature for your age." He was a genius. "Have a good holiday, Spencer." He didn't ask about anything else at school. Just wanted to get off the phone quickly. 

"You too, Dad," Spencer replied. Before he could have said anything else, the line went dead. Spencer bit his lip as he let the hand with his phone in it fall limply to his side.

He stood in the same spot for awhile, and then heard the door creak open. "Spence?" A voice, which the owner of it surprised him, asked. 

Spencer spun around. "JJ," he said in surprise. "How'd you get in?"

"Derek gave me his key," Jennifer dangled it in the air and smiled at him. "Wanted to know if you wanted to watch any movies before time runs out and the girls and boys must separate." She looked at him in concern and stepped forward hesitantly. "You okay?" 

"Fine," he lied. "My Dad said I could go to Maine for Thanksgiving."

"That's great," Jennifer said earnestly, but still looked at him with concern. "I still need to call my folks. No idea what they'll say." 

"They big on holidays?" Spencer asked.

"Huge," Jennifer replied, and plopped down onto Spencer's bed. Spencer would have asked her to get off if he'd had the energy, instead he just sat beside her. "Have been for...awhile...they decided the family should be really close." 

"Do you think they'll be mad?" Spencer asked. 

Jennifer shrugged, but her face showed her concern. "I don't know. Maybe?" She let out a small laugh. "Probably won't know I'm lying. I'm not really one for teenage acts of rebellion. At least, not that they know of." She winked playfully, a grin planted on her face.

Spencer laughed. "My Dad didn't even suspect for a second I was lying," he said. 

"Then it's a good thing he's the lawyer, and not the jury," Jennifer joked lightly, and Spencer once again cracked a smile at the remark. "You sure you're okay?" she asked as a gentle hand slowly touched Spencer's back, he tried not to flinch.

"He doesn't want me," Spencer admitted softly, pitifully, in his opinion. "He wanted to leave years ago. He only stayed because of image. I guess that's all I am, a picture in a frame to show friends." He looked off to the side. "I don't really have much to complain about, though." He sniffed. "Not with everything Derek goes through, and there are a lot of people who-."

"Spence," Jennifer cut him off forcefully, and Spencer looked at her in surprise. Her face was very serious. "Listen to me, okay? Just because someone has it hard doesn't mean you're not allowed to be sad. There's always a person in the world who has it worse than you, always. That doesn't mean no one is allowed to be sad. Be sad all you want, there's no shame in it." 

Spencer just nodded his head slowly, understanding the logic in what Jennifer meant. "I wish I could go home and see my Mom," he admitted. 

"Oh Spence," Jennifer said softly, and wrapped her arms around him, he hesitated for a moment before he returned the embrace. "There are people I wish I could see, too," Jennifer said cryptically. 

Spencer didn't ask what she meant, didn’t push her in any way, he just rest his head on her shoulder and enjoyed the warmth of her embrace. 

Maybe it was alright to allow yourself to be sad.


	17. Chapter 17

The beach house was gorgeous.

Spencer couldn't help but think it was a tad bit small for seven people...okay...much too small, in fact; but it was still cute, and there were plenty of places for them all to sleep. One room even had two sets of bunk beds, a bit of an overkill for such a small room, but still.

"Thanks so much for picking us up from the train station," Emily thanked her friend, whose name was Miguel. He was tall, and lanky, his hands, and feet, almost comical in large size. "I hadn't quite come up with a plan of how to get from there to here, except to call a taxi, and we'd need multiple ones." 

"It's no problem," Miguel responded, he looked around the beach house, as though he was checking to make sure everything was in place. "Haven't been here in awhile, but I brought a cleaning service in when I was told you were coming." He was MUCH older than all of them, and Spencer wondered how Emily even knew him. He suspected she was the type of person who ran into some very different people. 

"It looks wonderful," Penelope gushed, she was looking at the glass coffee table that sat in front of the tan couch. Different painted pictures were hung on the pale colored walls for decoration. Rather generic, actually. As though they just needed something random for decoration.

"I'm glad you think so," Miguel replied, but gazed up and down Penelope's colorful form in wonderment. "Anyway, you all get to share the one car I'm leaving here." He took the keys out of his pocket and dangled them in the air, he suddenly had everyone's attention. "You crash it? You pay for it. Who is the most responsible driver?" 

"All of us do pretty well," Aaron replied, though he did a side eye glance to Derek, who Spencer was told drove a bit erratically. "Except, Spencer doesn't have his license." 

"Not yet," Spencer muttered angrily, arms crossed over his chest, indignant. "But, I can drive." 

"He's a genius," Emily explained to Miguel, who just looked at him in amusement. "He can do everything." 

"Except carve a pumpkin," Derek quipped.

"Or play sports," David added. 

"Or dance," Derek continued. 

"Not going to get a record deal any time soon, either." 

"Sucks with computers."

"ALMOST everything," Emily clarified to Miguel, and cast an annoyed look at David and Derek, who just held their hands up in appeasement. 

"...Are you all going to burn my house down?" Miguel asked with dismay as he eyed the entire group. 

"Of course not!" Emily assured him. "I promise you, we're all mature."

"Fine," Miguel agreed, but he still eyed the group with suspicion. "Just realize, like the stores say, if you break it, you buy it." He then groaned, head tossed back. "Of course, I'm saying this to a bunch of rich kids vacationing from a boarding school." 

"No worries," Penelope assured him, and plopped down on the couch. "You won't even realize we were here." She then frowned. "Unless I replace that hideous dinosaur of a television, no offense." 

"None taken," Miguel said dryly. He then turned to Emily, and placed the keys in her hand. "Take care of things." 

"I will," Emily assured him firmly, and wrapped her palm tightly around the keys. 

"Good," Miguel replied. He glanced around the room warily at all of the rest of the kids. “Be careful.”

“We will," Emily said back to him. Miguel nodded his head, satisfied with the answer, then with a brief nod to all of them, exited the house. 

"Where's the wifi password?" Penelope asked Emily instantly.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Okay, so, I wrote down a list of everything we need," Penelope announced, then handed out pink slips of paper to everyone who sat at the table. "I photocopied it, so we could all have one. Since we have a car, we should be able to go out, and get the food whenever we please. I wouldn't recommend getting it today, though, since Thanksgiving is a few days away, but we'll still need food for the next few nights." 

"Let's just order takeout," David suggested, and rolled his eyes at the death glare he received from the peppy blonde. 

Spencer wasn't really listening too intently to the conversation, and only took a glance at the paper, he'd read it already. His mind was distracted as he thought about the events that lead up to Thanksgiving break. Apparently, his effort to defend Ella had truly won him some brownie points with Owen, who was still furious at Liam, and had his own table which only Ella, and Spencer, sat at. Spencer would have felt like a third wheel if the two had been more romantic. 

Ella had started bringing her own food to meals, still claiming that the school's food was dangerous. She claimed that bad things grew in there. Owen had tried to excuse it to Spencer, and claimed that Ella had found mold on her food; but, Spencer could tell Owen was concerned, he was just blinded by his love, not to mention devotion, to Ella...Spencer could relate. Sometimes love for a person blinded you from seeing just how bad off they truly were. Or like his Father, you'd see it, but you wouldn't want to deal with it anymore. 

Love made people fools. 

There had been no more deaths, and Spencer didn't quite know what to think of that. They'd had a Thanksgiving football game, which would have seemed like the right event for it, and soccer games; but nothing happened. They were all baffled by it. Perhaps it was because the killer knew they were watching them, or as it may have been, if it was Ella, she hadn't felt the urge to kill again yet.

Ella had gone on an...odd...rant about bad sports, and evil players, one that had certainly caught Spencer's attention. She went on, and on, for awhile, not much of what she said made any sense, but she said it with such passion that he felt the need to listen. Owen just watched worriedly. 

Even if Ella was the killer, though, Spencer couldn't help but pity her with all his heart. People may do horrible things, but that doesn’t always make them horrible people. That's something movies don't always show you. They show you a killer ex-boyfriend, scorned by love, a psycho man who wields some weapon of choice with little motive, or more reasons of simple pettiness; but the most heartbreaking killers? Those are the ones that aren't evil. They aren't lead by cruel hearts, evil spirits, or bitterness from the past. 

Some people aren't bad people, they're ill ones. 

"Spencer?" Derek dragged him out of his stupor, a mask of concern covered his face, and Spencer tried not to meet his eye. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah." Spencer nodded, one elbow on the table, hand fisted under his jaw. "Just thinking." 

"When aren't you?" Jennifer asked with humor, but she looked as worried as Derek did. 

Spencer smirked a little and nodded his head a little. "I got Owen's number," Spencer told them, absentmindedly. "He gave it to me without my having asked." 

"That's great," Emily said with a grin. "That means you're getting somewhere." 

"When is the appropriate time to text someone making an inquiry concerning their day?" Spencer asked seriously. Penelope brought a hand up to cover the smile that formed on her face. 

"Well, you could text him on Thanksgiving to wish him a happy holiday," Emily suggested, and looked up at Penelope, who stood over them at the table. "Penelope sends out a mass text every year." 

"It makes people feel included," Penelope defended slightly. 

"Or you could text him any time before that," Jennifer added. "Asking him how his break is going."

"Just not right away," David put in his two cents seriously. "You don't want to look like a stalker girlfriend." 

Derek gave him a look of bewilderment. "You texted me the first day of summer break!"

"I can do that," David dismissed with a wave. "We're friends." 

"He's really concerned about Ella," Spencer said sadly. "He won't say anything, but I can tell."

"Well, considering his girlfriend might be killing people, I can't say I'm shocked," Derek replied.

Spencer glared at him, and Derek held his hands up in submission. Things between them had been...okay. Every time they gathered in the fort he knew Derek was waiting for him to say something, admit to something, but Spencer just...he just couldn't bring himself to talk about it.

Derek never pushed him, either, which Spencer couldn't figure out exactly what that meant. Derek was obviously curious, but never even mentioned it once after the night in the fort. The questions all stayed in his eyes, so Spencer avoided his gaze. 

"Do you think he suspects something?" Jennifer asked. "From Ella or Liam?" 

"I think he thinks Liam is a jerk, and that Ella is...ill," Spencer attempted to explain, but the words weren't coming along with the fluidity he would have liked. "When you love someone who is ill, you either take it upon yourself to be their saving grace, or you...just can't handle it," Spencer continued to go on, anyway. Just because his words weren't fluid didn't mean they didn't hold meaning. "Sometimes you'll ignore the flaws you see in a person because you love them so much, sometimes you don't even see how bad they're truly getting. Or, if you can't handle it, you'll ignore how good they really are. Sometimes, you'll even think they can just handle themselves, even though you know they can't. A thousand things will go through your head. Right now? I think he's in denial about how bad it is. He won't see her flaws." 

The looks Spencer got were ones of contemplation and concern, it was then made obvious to him how much his words reflected his own musings from when he took care of his Mother. It must have shown through, and the whole group had taken notice. 

"So you think he suspects nothing," Jennifer replied slowly, carefully, as though she wasn't sure what she should say.

"Maybe subconsciously he does," Spencer replied reasonably. "But, he won't bring himself to see it." Spencer paused. "He can't. That'll make it all real." He wrung his hands in a nervous gesture. "He'll either lose her, or worse, realize she's been gone." 

There was silence in the room, and Spencer just continued to stare at his hands. Nothing in the world was worse than looking into the eyes of someone you loved and seeing no recognition. Or seeing something worse. 

"So, if it is Ella." They always made sure to say "if", or else Spencer would begin to become upset. "Then he won't truly realize until she's in handcuffs." 

"That, or he won't realize until the verdict, or until she's been in jail for ten years," Spencer replied seriously. 

"It's true what they say about love making people fools, isn't it?" David mused, very little humor in his words, they just about fell flat. Harsh realism. 

"At times," Spencer answered, eyes still focused on his hands as memories from the past surrounded him. Surrounded him within them, threatened to drown, and suffocate him. Eidetic memory. Every memory forever there, unable to vanish. 

"We'll figure out something," Penelope said, she attempted to sound cheerful, despite the obvious doubt in her own words. "I know we will. But for now? For now it is getting close to Thanksgiving, and you all are my minions," she informed them, and Derek chuckled. 

"Ten days of vacation," Emily mused out loud and shook her head. "Away from school, parents, and any type of authority figure." 

"All that, and we're not even drunk," David said with disappointment, and Derek whacked him on the arm. "Ow! Enough with the violence!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"I am NOT sharing a room with Spencer," Derek announced, arms crossed over his chest like a stubborn child. He glared at Jennifer, who held the room arrangements on a piece of pink stationery. The words in some tiny, fancy font, that no one else could possibly read.

"You share a room with him all the time," Emily reasoned, she looked at Derek like he was a complete moron. 

"Derek snores," Spencer whined. 

"I do not!"

"Yes you do," Aaron cut in from his position on the couch next to Jennifer.

"If I share a room with them I'll have to listen to this all night," David complained and gestured to all three of them. The room arrangements were going to be that David, Aaron, Derek, and Spencer shared the room with the bunk beds. Jennifer and Emily were going to share the other room on the second floor, and Penelope was going to get the room on the first level. "Why does Penelope get her own room?"

"Because my wonderful self wrote up the arrangements," Penelope replied simply, a smile painted pleasantly on her face. "Not only that, but I'm organizing Thanksgiving dinner, and cooked this evening. If it weren't for me, you would have been having greasy old pizza." 

"I like greasy old pizza," David replied back to her with a frown. Penelope proceeded to shoot him a look that could freeze a burning flame. David threw his hands up immediately. "Though I'd prefer your food any day!"

"You're cooking tomorrow," Penelope informed him. 

"What?" David whined out. 

"David is cooking? I might be ordering greasy pizza," Emily cut in with a grin, Jennifer tried to smother a laugh with the palm of her hand. 

"Everyone silent, Penelope Garcia in charge," Penelope ordered, and silence was swept across the room. "David, Aaron, Derek, and Spencer, you're all sharing a room. You're all boys, boys share rooms with boys. Now, Derek, if you would like to come down for a few hours a night to spend a little time in my bed, that is totally okay." Derek snorted. "But you sleep upstairs."

"Babygirl, come on, I don't get any special treatment?" Derek asked in faux hurt, one hand clutched his chest as though he was a dying man. 

"Oh, my sweet, you get the most special of treatments." Penelope winked. "Slink into my bed sometime in the next ten days, and I'll be happy to show you just how special."

"Suddenly I am thrilled at the prospect of staying upstairs," David stated. 

"Suddenly I'm regretting the fact that I'm putting these two in the same house for ten days with no parental control," Emily added in. Her eyes skeptically fell between the two teens in question. 

Penelope just winked at Derek, who grinned back at her flirtatiously. 

"Come on, now, we must calm it down," Penelope said as she collected herself, her eyes suddenly switched to Spencer, who took a hesitant step back. "There are children watching!"

"I'm sixteen!" Spencer complained. Penelope seemed to think sixteen meant six, and if her hand flip meant anything, she didn't really care to correct her mistake, either. Spencer really wanted that growth spurt. 

"Sorry squirt." Derek had the nerve to give Spencer's head a condescending pat. Spencer glared up at him, and Derek's lips trimmed to withhold his laughter. 

"In my dreams you're the size of an ant, and I step on you," Spencer deadpanned seriously, and both of Derek's eyebrows shot up. 

"Okkaayyy," Emily trailed off. "If we're done taunting the children-." Spencer glared at her, which had made her laugh. "Then we're back to the sleeping arrangements. Back to it as in, everybody deal with it." 

"Spencer, if the boys are all nasty and mean to you, just come right down here to Mama Penelope to handle it," Penelope told him, and Spencer tried to resist rolling his eyes. He could handle the three others boys, especially since Aaron was harmless. 

"Or just come in and spend the night with us," Emily said, and to the looks she got continued, "No offense, but I'm not too worried about spending a night in a room with Spencer Reid." 

Spencer frowned deeply, in between his eyebrows crinkled, and he looked down at the ground to ponder for a moment. "I can't tell if I should be insulted." 

Jennifer smiled kindly at him, and Spencer just cocked his head curiously. "Don't be, it means you're trustworthy." 

"...What does that say about us?!" David cried out, and looked at Derek and Aaron in astonishment, they had similar looks of insult on their faces. 

"It means you're perverts," Emily replied immediately, and the three boys continued to look insulted, while Spencer fought back his own smile. 

"You know, the whole too short, with oversized glasses." Spencer frowned deeply at the oversized glasses remark, and instantly brought his hand up to them. "Look can be deceiving,” David completed.

"Yeah, okay, sure, but I've never seen Spencer glance down my top," Emily drawled out, and took the time to glare at the three boys, who in turn looked sheepish. 

Spencer just shook his head, and focused his attention down to the carpet. He didn't want to admit the fact that he was actually partially scared to be spending the night in an area he had no familiarity with, in a house he'd never been in, without anyone besides the kids from his boarding school to help if anything went wrong. The whole thing just screamed the start of a horror movie, and they already had the killer. The whole idea seemed to grow worse in his mind as the sun had set. In the dark of night, every plan seemed to turn ominous. 

Not to mention the fact that staying in a strange location where you didn't know anybody when you had a killer after you was possibly one of the most stupid, and most teenage, thing he'd ever done in his entire life.

"Come on, kid." Derek whacked him lightly on the back, he'd gotten increasingly more gentle about it, especially since one time when Spencer was so tired, and off balance, he actually fell over. "Let's hit the hay. Doesn't seem like we're winning any battles down here." He gave a pointed look to the girls, who all looked extremely smug.

"I think I did fine," Spencer replied with a grin, and Derek glared at him. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Mom, come on, get up," Spencer urged his Mother softly, he nudged her shoulder. He was only ten years old, and his Father had been away for over two weeks. Neither of them knew where he was, and Spencer had to take care of his Mother all by himself. "Mom, come on," he demanded once more. His too large glasses were slipping off his nose, they weren't quite the right size for his face, before his Father left he'd pointed that out. 

It was Thanksgiving that day, Spencer knew that for a fact, he also knew that they didn't celebrate it. They didn't celebrate holidays in general, his Mother always refused to. No Christmas, no Thanksgiving, no Easter, none of it. Her reasonings consisted solely of delusions, but his Father never put much of an effort into fighting for the holidays, either. 

"Spencer?" His Mother inquired softly, voice filled with fatigue as she slowly scooted up in her bed, and cast a look down to her son, who looked expectantly at her. "It's much too early for you to wake me, Spencer. Did you have a nightmare?" 

"It's the afternoon," Spencer said dryly, and tried not to let sadness leak into his voice. He was annoyed, he'd tried to wake his Mother up hours early, but she'd only groaned in response. "You need to take your medicine. You didn't take it yesterday, the cup was full." 

"I hate that medicine," Diana complained as she rubbed at her tired eyes. Dark blue was painted on light dry skin, and her eyes were rimmed with red. No matter how much sleep she got, she was always exhausted. "It makes me unable to think right." 

"The doctor says you have to take it," Spencer reminded her, arms crossed over his chest, and feet firmly planted on the ground. Diana's lips quirked up slightly, though Spencer couldn't fathom why. 

"Doctors aren't always right," Diana reminded him, and Spencer felt frustration bubble up. It was her same excuse for everything. "Besides." Diana shook her head, and suddenly her whole demeanor seemed to change. Spencer stiffened, and wondered if it was the start of another delusion. "You can't work properly with the medicine, Spencer," she said. Her voice was...weird. Almost...twisted. "You can't do what you want to do with it. Have to shove it down deep. Have to get rid of it to complete what you need." 

"...Mom?" Spencer asked hesitantly, unsure of what his Mother meant, of what was going on. He felt numb, he didn't know why, but he felt totally numb and afraid. 

"It has to be shoved down deep, Spencer, it has to be-." His Mother choked, and Spencer instantly ran over to her bedside to help her. 

She coughed violently, hacked away, one hand reached up in an attempt to cover her mouth, and Spencer tried to rub her back, tried to comfort her through the coughs. Yet they continued. Harsh, body wrecking coughs that shook her entire frail form, and Spencer with it, just because he was in a close proximity. He still continued to rub her back, until finally she stilled, and when she turned to face him, her eyes were totally black and dead. 

"Mom!" Spencer cried out. That's when his Mother opened her lips, and pills begun to pour out of her mouth."MOM!!!!" He shouted in distress as more and more pills tumbled from his Mother's open mouth. He screamed at the top of his lungs, covered his eyes with his fists, but underneath it all he could still see it, it was everywhere, he couldn't escape it! 

He continued to scream, he tried to move, tried to put his hands to his Mother's mouth to stop the flow of pills, but he couldn't move. He was immobilized. Stuck in a horrific nightmare, and all he could do was scream and cry, praying for it to soon be over.

Suddenly, his Mother reached out for him, and Spencer screamed louder as her palms touched his shoulder. Warmth collided with the cold of his body, and he screamed in fear as she begun to violently shake him. 

Through the fountain of pills that fell from her mouth she screamed two words: "WAKE UP!" 

"SPENCER!" He could open his eyes again, and he could move. He immediately used that ability to push at the hands on his shoulders as he continued to scream, and flung himself across his Mother's bedroom. "Jesus Christ!" A voice, certainly not his Mother's, cursed. 

He closed his eyes again, this time he wasn't forced to look at the horrible imagery that haunted him, he was just able to curl into himself, and enjoy the dark black that came from the closure of his eyes. The images still ran rampant in his head, but they weren't there. They weren't right in front of him. They weren't there. 

Where was his Mother, though? Was she okay? Should he search for her? 

"Spencer," a soft voice said his name, but once again, it wasn't his Mother, and he would not open his eyes. "Spencer," the voice was slightly more demanding that time. "Spencer, you need to open your eyes, okay?"

"Should we call an ambulance?" Another voice asked almost nervously. 

An ambulance, an ambulance was probably a good idea. They could help his Mother. They could get the pills out of her. 

The pills...

There was the sound of footsteps, and then the sound of a door being flung open. Had his Father come back? Who was that talking to him? How had they gotten into the house? 

"We heard yelling," one of the voices said with concern. It was a female voice, but once more, not his Mother's. 

"Spence," another voice said softly, that voice, at last, made him open his eyes. It was light in the room, certainly not his Mother's room, and he certainly wasn't ten years old.

Oh.

Damnit. 

"I'm so sorry," Spencer apologized immediately, and shot up to his shaking legs. A big mistake, considering Aaron, who had been knelt in front of him, had to catch him before he tumbled to the ground. "I just-it was just a dream! I'm so sorry!" David stood by the bottom bunk which Spencer had slept on, Spencer assumed he was the one who woke him up. 

"You have nothing to apologize for," Aaron assured him softly, and rubbed his back with one of his hands once he was certain Spencer could stand on his own. Spencer shrunk away from it. 

"Um." He glanced around the room. The only two missing were Penelope, and Derek. Everyone else stood in the cramped up room, with the dark blue walls, and the horribly cliche paintings of the beach, and lobsters. "Happy Thanksgiving?" 

David snorted out a laugh, and grabbed onto the metal side of the bunk bed, as if the force of the reaction was going to knock him over. "Happy Thanksgiving," he replied dryly.

"Do you need to sit down?" Jennifer asked him in concern, she took hesitant steps towards him, and Spencer allowed her to put a hand on his forearm. 

"I'm fine," he assured her with a tight smile. "Where are Derek and Penelope?"

"They went for a lover's walk on the beach," David replied to him easily, he seemed to be the least fazed, meanwhile the rest of the room still seemed to be staring at Spencer as though he was a ticking time bomb. "Probably for the best, you'd be wrapped in blankets right now if Penelope was here." 

"No kidding," Spencer replied with a forced smile. He tried to rest his posture slightly, loosen up, appear less petrified, ignore the images that floated through his mind. He smelt the air slightly. "Is she already cooking?" 

"We're eating early, apparently," Emily said dryly, she seemed to have recovered, as well. Spencer wasn't surprised, Emily wouldn't bother him on the topic unless she thought he wanted to talk about it, much like David. Aaron, and Derek, on the other hand, might push. But luckily, Derek wasn't there. "Derek had to take her out for a walk before she had an aneurysm." 

"An aneurysm is a localized, blood-filled bulge that has a balloon like appearance in the wall of a blood vessel. An estimated 6 million people in the United States have an unruptured brain aneurysm. That's 1 in 50 people." The facts flooded freely from Spencer's lips, it had almost felt like a relief to speak them. Facts, statistics, they were comfortable, they made him feel better, more in control. It was just what he needed. "Brain aneurysms are most prevalent in people ages 35-60. Some children do get them, but most aneurysms develop after the age of 40, so I think she should be fine," he informed them logically. 

"Right," Emily replied instantly, obviously she hadn't really listened to a word he'd said. "Well, anyway, as soon as you get cleaned up we could use some help with the vegetables." 

"Unless you want to go back in bed for a bit," Jennifer cut in instantly, and shot a short glare Emily's way. Though, Spencer was more thankful for Emily's approach, nevertheless, he appreciated Jennifer's concern.

"No, I, uh, think I got quite enough sleep," Spencer replied with a quick smile, he brushed past Jennifer to grab his clothes from his bag, he hadn't put them away, didn't see the point. 

"If you're sure..." Aaron trailed off, he looked at Spencer warily. Spencer really wished Aaron would tone down the soul searching gaze, it was unsettling, not to mention weird. 

"I'm sure," Spencer assured him with another tight smile. "Just need a shower, then I'll be happy to help with everything."

He brushed past both Jennifer, and Aaron, before another word could be said.

~.~.~.~.~.~

The water pressure sucked at the house.

Spencer cursed it every single morning he got up to take his shower. He'd turn the water on, and this pathetic little dribble that they dared call a "shower" would drip down upon him. It surely wasn't enough to keep your body from getting freezing cold from the outside breeze, and it took him twice as long to wash his hair. When he'd complained about that last fact, David had thought it would be amusing if he turned on his electric razor, and offer to help with the hair. Penelope had hid him behind her while yelled at him to shut it off. 

Spencer twisted the shower knob, so that the pathetic stream stopped, then grumbled grumpily. It wasn't just the shower that annoyed him, it was everything. The whole group tended to treat him like an infant, then, of course, he has a horrible nightmare to show them they were right. 

He swallowed down burning bile as the memory of his Mother resurfaced in his mind. It had taken him gripping the edge of the sink with the shower running for ten minutes before he was sure his stomach was settled, and it started to become worked up again once he shut the shower off. 

He tried to focus on his indignance, it was a lot easier to deal with. Though, he just knew that as soon as Derek, and Penelope, had gotten back, he heard them come in through the door, that they'd been informed of what had happened upstairs. Penelope would baby him, and Derek had already been staring at him for weeks with the same intensity as Aaron. Between the two stares, Spencer was worried a hole would be seared through his head, but that was impossible.

Or, unlikely, anyway. 

He hadn't a clue what to do about Derek. Derek knew. Or at least, knew some part of it. The rest of the group suspected his Mother dead, and that was awful, but the truth...he couldn't speak of it. Not yet, anyway. If he was to correct them, tell them his Mother was alive, he'd have to tell them everything. He'd be forced to explain, and he couldn't do that. He just couldn't.

There was a killer hunting for their lives, and Spencer Reid was worried about family secrets, in his mind it was absolutely pathetic. 

He looked down at his clothes. a button down shirt, and a pair of khakis. Derek, and David, had mocked him for the fact that he dressed like a miniature businessman when they were supposed to be relaxing. Penelope had even said they really needed to work on his style. He didn't get what was so wrong with his clothes, they were nice. His Mother used to love it when he'd dress nice, maybe it was one of the reasons he did it so often. On the rare occasions they went shopping together, he really only remembered doing it when he was much younger, she always bought him dress clothes. Naturally he owned jeans, and naturally he wore them to his old school, and such. Why would he wear khakis to school when they were just going to either get ripped or dirtied? Besides, it was better to wear comfort clothes when locked in a locker for over an hour. 

"Spencer?" There was a tiny knock on the door that startled him out of his thoughts. The khakis slipped from his hands, then fell onto the ground as he spun his head towards the source of the noise, flecks of water flung off his hair, and hit the mirror. Not that he could see it well, without his glasses on everything was blurry. "Are you almost done in there? The potatoes need peelin'!" That was Penelope's chipper voice, though it was laced with concern. Someone told her. He knew it.

"I'll be out in a second," he replied, and knew he sounded irritated, but he couldn't help it. 

"People who like mashed potatoes move faster," Penelope sing-songed, which had made Spencer have to try to fight back his smile.

"I like baked ones more."

"You monster." 

"You know, recipes for mashed potatoes start appearing no later than 1747, with an entry in The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse, an English cookery writer, she's best known for the book, which was reprinted within its first year of publication, appeared in 20 editions in the 18th century, and continued to be published until 1843," Spencer informed her as he dropped his towel and pulled his shirt over his damp head of hair. "She later became bankrupt in 1754, and while she was discharged from bankruptcy in 1754, she later was consigned on the 22nd of June in 1757 to the Marshalsea debtors' prison."

"You learned all this about a potato lady why?" Penelope inquired, and Spencer smirked. 

"I like to read," Spencer reminded her, as he picked at a stray piece of string on his shirt. "You can actually get the book on the internet." 

"Mmm, now he begins to speak my language," Penelope said, and Spencer finally let out a small breath of a laugh. "Can you imagine how shocked she would have been in 17...whatever, if you'd told her that one day her recipes would be available on magical devices with light up screens that can take money instantly out of an account, then proceed to deliver the items to your door without you having to leave your house?" 

"Might have made bankruptcy easier," Spencer mused. "Or sent her into a mental institution if she spoke of it." His jaw stiffened slightly, and he quickly went to put his khakis on. 

"Ugh. That would have been awful." The fact that Penelope was still speaking to him from outside the door occurred to him might be a tad bit weird. Especially since the bathroom was so close to the kitchen, and everyone could probably hear their conversation. 

"You should read Ten Days in the Madhouse by Nellie Bly. It was published in parts in 1887, and details all the disturbing happenings that used to occur. It's a quick read, and it's very informative," he recommended. 

"Quick read to someone who can read 20,000 words per-minute, or to us normal folks?" Penelope joked. 

"It's 96 pages," Spencer replied with a grin. "Pretty quick for most people." 

"I don't know if I'd enjoy reading that," Penelope confessed sadly, and Spencer zipped, and buttoned, his khakis. They hung a bit too loosely on him. "Reading about sad things impairs my ability to skip, and giggle." 

"Just skip, and giggle more solemnly," Spencer joked lightly, and heard Penelope giggle a little as he opened the door, damp towel in hand to pluck into the blue wicker hamper that sat right outside the bathroom door. 

"Your hair looks adorable all wet," Penelope cooed, then brought up a manicured hand to shake it out. "Pretty curls." 

"Well, it's good to know it's not at all weird," David's voice trailed from down the hall in the kitchen, and Penelope and Spencer followed it to the source. David was making homemade stuffing. "To talk to Spencer while he's naked in the bathroom."

Spencer's cheeks heated up, and Penelope rolled her eyes. "He was behind a closed door, I didn't sneak a peak of anything. I respect his virtue." 

"Good job, Penelope." Derek walked up from behind her, he was previously seated on the couch which made Spencer wondered how he got out of cooking, and pecked her on the cheek. "You should at least take him out on three dates first." He winked at Spencer, who crossed his arms and glared.

"The three date rule is bogus," Emily said, she was chopping up vegetables for the stuffing. "Now guys know just to take a girl out for dinner three times before hopping into bed. You want a keeper? Make him sit through five." 

"Unless you want a fun-time buddy," Penelope said, and waggled her eyebrows. "Then you just put the number on speed dial and go." 

"Penelope!" Derek exclaimed in surprise, and she just winked at him response. "Does my name happen to be on speed dial?"

"Digit numero uno," Penelope replied suggestively. 

"I'm still just feeling lucky that I haven't heard any furniture moving down here," Emily said dryly, and Jennifer laughed from beside her. 

"No kidding," she agreed. 

"I...uh...think I'm ready to peel potatoes now," Spencer said in a rush, and hurried over to the table where there was a batch of potatoes, a peeler, and paper towels to peel over. 

"You can't peel away the layers of our love," Penelope said dramatically, one hand held to her chest, most of the people in the kitchen rolled their eyes. 

"I know some other layers I'd like to peel away," Derek purred, then wrapped one of his arms around Penelope's waist, and grinned at her. 

"Mmm," Penelope purred in return, and brought one hand up to pinch at Derek's cheeks. "As much as I would love to take this into the back bedroom, m'dear, I'm afraid I have a kitchen to run." 

"Always did love a woman hard at work," Derek flirted, then kissed her hair before he pulled away, his arms slowly unraveled from her waist. 

"Yeah, and I love a man at work, so how about you get your ass over here and do something," Emily suggested, and Jennifer laughed from beside her. 

Derek held up both of his hands. "I don't know if you want me touching anything that's going in the oven, gotta be honest with your ladies."

"Oh, so the great Derek Morgan can't do everything after all," Jennifer teased, and winked at Emily. "Guess we'll have to inform the school." 

"Well you must be informing the school of something," Derek replied, he leaned up against the fridge, which earned him a glare from Penelope. "Your phone has been vibrating all morning." 

Jennifer rolled her eyes, then shook her head. "No kidding. I'm stuck in a group text from hell." 

"From Hell is right," David agreed. "I swear Satan invented those things." 

"The first text message was sent December 3, 1992, but the Finnish engineer Matti Makkonen first conceived the idea eight years prior," Spencer informed them as he peeled the potatoes carefully. He tried to mainly get the skin, not peel off too much potato. Each section was peeled straight, and was done with great concentration. Though, with his knack for clumsiness, he was certain, would ruin it soon.

"I don't recall asking a question that would require such answer," David teased dryly, with an eye roll to match. 

"Just helping with the education so you don't get rusty," Spencer quipped quickly, he smiled when David's eyes narrowed. 

"You saying I'm not intelligent?" 

"I don't recall initiating a response that would require such a question," Spencer answered easily, he heard Derek chuckle, and out of the corner of his eye saw the girls pressing their lips down hard as to try not to laugh. 

David looked at him in disbelief. "You're turning into a smartass." Spencer looked up at him, and smiled. "I'm proud of you." Spencer's smile grew even more so. 

"Great," Jennifer said sarcastically. "David is trying to create a mini-me." 

"It's not just David," Aaron added in, he was simply sitting at the kitchen table next to Spencer, he, like Derek, wasn't really doing anything. "Derek was explaining to him what a rather...explicit...phrase meant last night." Spencer's cheeks heated up scarlet at the memory.

"He asked!" Derek defended himself with indignance, he gestured towards Spencer, who kept his head bowed. "Not like I gave him an instruction manual on how to do it!" 

"Mainly because he asked you to stop talking nearly two seconds later," David added in with a grin. 

"Derek Morgan," Penelope scolded, one hand on her hip. "Are you trying to poison the youth?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Mama," Derek replied with his signature smile, which made Spencer glowered at him. "Just a little Q&A." 

Spencer opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off when an annoying vibration from the glass coffee table rattled its noise all the way into the kitchen. There was no wall to break the two rooms apart, just the change from hardwood to tile. 

"I'm putting it on silent," Jennifer announced, and brushed her hands on the sides of her pants as she marched over to the table.

"What are they texting about, anyway?" David asked. 

Jennifer had her phone in her hand, and a frown on her face. "Just...random stuff," she replied distractedly. "Wanting to know what everyone is doing for Thanksgiving, and apparently they all find complaining about family members very interesting." She rolled her eyes and pressed the screen of her phone a few times.

"Do they know where you are?" David inquired. 

Jennifer shook her head in the negative, then gave him a look. "Please. You think I'm telling a bunch of teenagers I'm in a house with no adult supervision? This place would be filled in a day." 

"It's Thanksgiving," Spencer pointed out with a frown. "Why would anyone want to party on Thanksgiving?" 

"Because it's a house with no adult supervision, Spence," Jennifer replied with a small laugh, she set her phone back down on the table. "Holidays don't mean much." 

"A bunch of drunk kids hanging around a beach house on Thanksgiving, giving thanks for the insane amounts of liquor," David mused as Emily handed him over chopped celery for the stuffing. "Damn. That actually sounds like fun." 

"How about no?" Emily glared at him, and set the rolling pin David used to roll out the crumbs into the sink. "They would wreck this entire house, then we would have to pay for it. No thank you." 

"No kidding," Derek agreed, large smile on his face, he was still leaned up against the fridge, and David tried to push him out of the way to pull out some butter. "Remember what happened that one summer when everyone met up at Tracy King's house?" 

"Oh," Emily winced, but smiled soon after. "That was BRUTAL." 

"We're just all lucky we got out okay," Jennifer said seriously, and walked back over to finish chopping the onion David needed. It was all in miniature squares, but he insisted it needed to be finely chopped. "The police were called twenty minutes after we left by an upset neighbor." 

"Yeah, it's a good thing Emily got so wasted she couldn't stand," Derek agreed, he cast a smug grin over to Emily, who flipped him off. "Is that your go to reply for everything?" 

"No," Emily said calmly, and then proceeded to hold up the giant knife she had been cutting up vegetables with. She looked at it contemplatively, before she switched her gaze to Derek, who was unfazed. "But this could be."

"That's why I like you, Emily Prentiss," Derek told her, smile still plastered on his face. "At least you stab people in the front." 

"No kidding she does," Penelope said with a laugh as she took the eggs out of the fridge, Derek leaned up against the open door. "Remember when she told Cynthia in freshman year that she didn't want to be friends anymore in front of EVERYONE?" 

Emily winced again, and looked away. 

"Like that even needed an announcement," David agreed. "You were friends for what? Five minutes?" 

"At least I'm not in an apron," Emily shot back at him. David just waved his hand at her, not affected. 

"I look good in an apron," he said, he stepped away from the stove to gesture down to himself, he then winked. Emily made a gagging sound, while a lot of the kitchen snickered. 

"You know," Spencer begun, and set aside another potato he had peeled into the pile. How many people did Penelope expect to feed with the feast?! "The history of aprons is actually kind of interesting-."

"Kid," Derek cut him off, and Spencer looked at him. He was leaned up against the finally closed fridge, arms crossed over his chest, but a grin still in place. "No offense, but I think we can live without it." 

"Right," Spencer said sheepishly. "Sorry." He took his gaze away from Derek and back down to his work, his peeling accuracy had greatly suffered as the task got more annoying. 

"Derek Morgan, you hurt him, you help him," Penelope ordered him, one finger pointed over to the table, and Derek held out his hands in shock. "You heard me! There's an extra peeler, and plenty of carrots. Chop chop! Let's get to work!" She clapped her hands together, and looked at Derek pointedly until he let out a sigh, then pushed himself off the fridge with both hands. The fridge shook a tad bit with the force, and Derek made his way over to the table and plopped himself down on the other side of Spencer. Aaron just sat there, and grinned as he held out the extra peeler in one hand, paper towels in the other, to Derek. Derek snatched them out of his hands with a glare. 

"What the hell is he going to be doing?" Derek inquired, pointer finger pointed at Aaron. 

"Aaron will chop the vegetables after they're done being peeled," Penelope answered, and Aaron held up his knife to show Derek. "So get your butts in gear." 

Derek rolled his eyes, Spencer followed suit. Penelope gave each a pat on the back before she pulled away to help stir together the ingredients for the stuffing. 

~.~.~.~.~.

Derek and Spencer worked in silence for awhile. Derek was a lot more careless about the peeling, and hunks of carrot rest upon the napkin, which made Spencer's right eye twitch slightly. Derek seemed to notice, smirked, and did it even more. Spencer attempted to ignore him, not to mention his reckless peeling. He'd be done with the potatoes soon enough, though, he was sure they'd be eating leftovers for the next eternity. Well, for at least four days, anyway. Diana Reid never let her son eat leftovers if they were over four days old, it was ingrained in his brain.

"Hey, kid," Derek whispered quietly to him after awhile. So quietly, in fact, that not even Aaron could overhear his voice.

Spencer inclined his head to him slightly, he softly hummed to show his acknowledgement. 

"You doing alright?" Derek asked, which caused Spencer to stiffen. He knew that Derek had probably been informed of his earlier nightmare, and he didn't feel like having a pity party thrown for him. 

"Fine," Spencer replied, voice clipped, he then proceeded to give Derek a side eye. "You?" 

The question seemed to alarm Derek slightly, and Spencer took note of it with a frown. Derek cleared his throat quietly, and turned back to his task. "Fine," he replied, just as clipped. Spencer had no reason to suspect otherwise from any of his earlier actions that day, but he did. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The dinner was insane. 

The turkey was much too big, even for the number of them they had, and there was a giant mixing bowl full of mashed potatoes next to it, and even more on the stove. The stuffing was in another giant bowl, it smelled divine. David had made it completely homemade, and looked ridiculously proud of it. There was a bowl of chopped carrots, a bowl filled with peas, butternut squash, gravy, biscuits, green beans, cranberry sauce, and pears with mint jelly. The turkey was cooked perfectly, the skin a golden toasted color, just crunchy enough, with spices all along the top of it. It was cut by David and Aaron. 

"Wow," Spencer said, stunned as he looked at the feast. He'd never seen so much food on one table. They never celebrated holidays, family rarely came over, he'd never really had a feast. 

"No kidding, huh," Derek said. Something about him was still...off...and Spencer felt bad, like he had caused it, but the older boy jostled his shoulder from where he sat beside him. "Think that turkey had more meat on it than you." 

"You better actually eat," Penelope warned him, one finger pointed at him. "If you only nibble at this I swear to goodness I will whack you over the head with a spoon." 

"I'll eat," Spencer promised. How could he not? The food looked delicious. "Can...Can I have a leg?" 

"Mhm, yes you may, in just a moment short stuff," Penelope agreed easily, and Derek continued to smile at him. "But, before we dig into what, if I do say so myself, will be a delicious feast, we must all go around the table and say at least one thing we're thankful for. I'll start!" She declared cheerfully. 

There was silence at the table for a moment as Penelope pondered. Spencer knew it wasn't that she had nothing to list, it was that Penelope was thankful for so much, even the little thing, she wanted to pick something good. 

"I'm thankful for my family," she announced at last, and smiled at the group around her. "Not just my family at home, though I love them dearly, I'm thankful for my other family. The family right here. The family that was completed this year." She smiled at Spencer, who looked at her, stunned. "I'm thankful for Spencer's arrival, and for Jennifer returning to us." She smiled at Jennifer, who returned it instantly. "I mean, the completion couldn't have come at a worse time, but it also couldn't have come at a better one." She raised her glass of cranberry juice. "I'm thankful for family." Everyone held their glasses up in response, smiles plastered on all their faces, and Penelope swiped a tear that had started to fall.

Penelope gestured to Aaron, who sat beside her, to go next. He sat still for a moment, he gazed down at the table in concentration, every once and a while his cheek would move to show he was biting it. "I'm thankful we got away from school, and for a short period of time, we're able to feel safe," Aaron decided. 

Next was Jennifer, who thought it over for a moment before she looked at them all with appreciation and said, "I'm just thankful I was welcomed back."

"Always," Penelope assured her firmly. 

Next to Jennifer was Emily, who let out a gust of wind, and tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. "I'm thankful you all agreed to come here. Where we can sit by the water, and talk, and not have to worry about school, or a killer. I'm thankful we get to feel like rebellious teenagers...to the point I almost hope we're caught." 

The group snorted, and David was next. "I'm thankful for the fact that, for once, I have so much to feel thankful for, I can't pick a single damn thing out," he said with passion. "I'd say that's pretty special." 

Next was Derek , who thought about it for a moment. He still seemed distracted, and Spencer still wondered if it was his fault. "I'm thankful for the fact that I shared the secret about the fort so now we have a safe place to hideout," Derek admitted hesitantly, and the group smiled at him.

Spencer knew what he was going to say, because it was something he'd been thankful for since he saw the feast on the table. "I'm thankful I get to celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time with all of you," he said softly, and everyone grinned at him.

"Well, then," Penelope said, her eyes watery. She lifted her glass once more. "Here's to a happy Thanksgiving."

"Here here!" David agreed, and they all clinked their glasses together. 

~.~.~.~.~.

"I think my body is on auto-pilot," Emily complained as she picked up another slice of turkey off the platter. "I can't stop," she whined as she plopped it down with her fork onto her plate. "Somebody stop me." 

"Can't," David said, he was just about keeled over his empty plate. "Dying." 

"Someone please put all this away," Jennifer pleaded. One hand held her head, her blonde hair skewed over it. "Just looking at it is going to make me sick."

"Just do what I do and close your eyes and pretend you're somewhere else," Penelope recommended, eyes firmly shut. "Where your belly is not so full." 

"Why did you all eat so much if you knew you'd regret it later?" Spencer inquired seriously. He'd eaten a fair amount of food, but once he had begun to feel uncomfortable he'd stopped. 

"Shut up, Spencer," Derek replied, and Spencer frowned. 

"The meal was fantastic, though," Spencer announced pleasantly. He gazed at the potatoes. They were tempting, but they'd end up being painful. "Did you know the potato is the fourth largest food crop in the world?" He inquired, and despite the lack of interest shown, he continued, "Following rice, wheat, and maize." 

"Is he learning even more facts?" David asked in annoyance. "I think he's learning even more facts." 

"He knows too much potato history," Penelope added in, and opened her eyes to look at Spencer. "Why did you decide to learn so much about potatoes?"

"Because they're delicious," Spencer replied simply, and gazed at the bowl. "Maybe one more helping wouldn't hurt..."

"It will," the entire table said at once.

"Though, to be fair," Emily begun, and was promptly cut off by a groan. "It's your first Thanksgiving, you should be able to feeling the sickness." she then pushed her hand up against the potato bowl, the tips of her fingers turning white during the press as they folded back. The clear glass bowl nudged towards him. "Have at it." 

"Nuh-uh," Penelope said, one finger held up sternly at Spencer when he looked as though he was about to reach for the bowl. "I'm not having his first Thanksgiving memory being him puking." 

Spencer wrinkled up his nose. He did have a bit of a...fear of puking. It was brought on by a really bad stomach bug he'd gotten when he was younger. His Father wasn't home that night, and his Mother was having an episode. When she realized he was puking she was convinced it wasn't a bug, and that someone had placed something in their food, she continued to go on a delusional rant about poisons. At one point, she had wanted to take him to a hospital, and he had to swallow down the sickness that rose up his throat and try to calm her down and get her back into bed. 

He let his slightly raised hand fall to his side. 

"My Mama would have had you filled up by now," Derek told him. His voice sounded reminiscent but also almost...haunted. Spencer immediately paid attention, though, it wasn't often that Derek ever spoke of his Mother. "She filled everyone up on Thanksgiving. Would have thought you were too skinny." 

"Your Mama was a Thanksgiving day champ?" Penelope inquired with a grin, and Derek actually returned the smile. 

"Hell yeah, she was." His smile suddenly dropped, and his eyes got the haunted look back in them. "She loved Thanksgiving," he said sadly. "Wanted the whole family together every holiday. If people couldn't show up she was heartbroken, even if we didn't have the space." Derek bit his lip. They all knew where he was going with it. 

His Mother must have been miserable every Thanksgiving since her children had been taken. 

"What's your Mother's first name?" Penelope asked suddenly, and Derek looked at her in confusion, they all did. The question didn't really seem relevant. 

"Fran," Derek replied hesitantly. "Her name is Fran Morgan." 

"She lives in Chicago?" Penelope inquired, and suddenly stood up. She held her stomach as her face showed a twinge of pain at the movement. 

"Probably," Derek answered, confused as his eyes followed Penelope's movements. "Can't see her moving. We...uh...still have family there." 

"Gotcha." Penelope swiftly grabbed her laptop off the coffee table. It was perfectly cleaned up. Never a spot of dust on it, no decorative stickers, no stains, scratches, nothing. She was an extremely decorative, and energetic person, but she liked her technology to be clean. 

"Penelope," Derek said slowly, and rose up from his chair. "What are you doing?" 

"Giving your Mother an, at least slightly, happier Thanksgiving," Penelope replied as her fingers pressed down on the clean keys rapidly. "Gotcha," she announced. "Someone get Derek a phone."

"What?" Derek asked, he moved to stand above Penelope, and looked down at her laptop screen. "Why? What are you doing?" 

"It's not what I'm doing," Penelope responded, and Emily dug her phone out of her purse that sat in front of the back door. Plain black purse with some texture to it, she claimed it matched every outfit. "It's what you're going to do." 

"You want me to...call her?" Derek asked, almost in fear. "Penelope, I haven't spoken to my Mama since I was taken." 

"No time like the present," Penelope replied, and Emily placed her phone in Derek's palm, as he continued to look around the room anxiously. "Look, you don't have to call. I get it, okay? Or...well...maybe I don't, but still, you're scared, that's okay."

"I can't just..." he trailed off and continued to look around the room for some type of support. "I could have called at boarding school, but I never did."

"Part of you was worried they would find out," Penelope told him. "But if you use one of our phones, they won't."

"I'll be eighteen soon, anyway," Derek continued on. "I can visit her then." 

"Yes, visit. But right now? Right now you could call her and let her know her baby boy is doing well for Thanksgiving," Penelope said to him, and Derek bit his lip and turned his head. "I know you like your privacy, Derek, but don't you think it'd make your Mother's day to hear your phone on one of her favorite holidays?" 

"Yes," Derek said, his voice slightly choked. "It would."

"Then do it," Penelope urged him on. It was odd, to see Derek so vulnerable. Spencer had been too busy thinking of what Thanksgiving meant to him, that he'd almost forgotten what it must have meant to Derek. "For her, if not for yourself." 

Derek looked down at Emily's phone, and slowly, hesitantly, placed his finger on the keypad. "Read me the number," he requested. "I can't...I've blocked it out." 

Penelope slowly, carefully, read him each digit as Derek even more hesitantly pressed his finger down on the screen. The rest of them were still seated at the table, besides Emily, who stood beside them, and they watched him. 

Derek slowly pressed the phone up to his ear, and sucked in a deep breath. Penelope reached up, and grasped at his palm. He accepted her hand, and squeezed it firmly. 

"Hello?" He said into the phone, and sucked in another deep breath as he bit his lip. "Sarah? Is that you?" He paused for a moment before he said, "It's Derek." 

"Come on," Aaron said in a hushed tone to the rest of the table, and he stood up quietly. "Let's give him some privacy." 

They all slowly walked up the stairs, and the last thing they saw was Derek collapse on the couch. They could hear babbling words come through the other end of the phone, and then, at last, they heard,

"Mama? It's Derek."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this! I know it's a little different, and that some of the characters seem a bit odd. But it's just because it's younger versions of them. I know some other team members haven't appeared yet, but just stay tuned! Thank you all so much for reading!


End file.
